


Deceit's Shadow

by SceneCipriano



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Abuse, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Good Deceit Sanders, Nightmares, Non-Consensual Kissing, Scared Deceit, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, shady ass shadow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-03-09 11:34:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 22,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18916144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SceneCipriano/pseuds/SceneCipriano
Summary: A long time ago, when Deceit was younger he found himself lost within the subconscious. He became the target of something that was darker than anything that had ever appeared within the mind palace. After being accepted by the light sides and Thomas, Deceit thought everything was finally over, but his new shadow had other plans.(Sucky description and title I know, I'll try to come up with something better! Also, to get a better insight check out Short Snek!)





	1. The Nightmare

    Deceit stares down the edge of the building he stood on, he knew that this was only a dream. He wasn't really on top of a building, he knew that he laid in his bed fast asleep and that he could get through this without relying on the others to pull him through it. The snake-like side takes a deep breath and steps away from the edge, he bit the inside of his jaw when he felt a hand push at his back, he refused to give the assailant the satisfaction of hearing him scream. Deceit swallows thickly and turns around, he knew that he had to play the dream out in order to wake up. The smaller side freezes when he comes face to face with bright blue eyes, only this time the blue eyes didn't belong to a shadow. No, the eyes belonged to a side, only this side lacked Thomas's normal appearance. This side had really pale skin, it was paler than Virgil's, instead of brown hair the side had stark white hair that hung loosely in front his blue eyes. Deceit noticed how the taller sides clothes matched his normal outfit, only the colors were blue and white. The side smirks and tilts his head, "Well, hello there." The familiar smooth voice slipped from the sides mouth like honey, Deceit shudders and takes a step back, a gasp leaves his mouth as he looks back with wide eyes staring over the edge of the building. 

   "You... You have a face and hair... A-And skin," Deceit stammers as he returns his gaze to the side in front of him. The taller side flashes him a sharped tooth smile, Deceit flinches when the side gently trails his fingers down the snake-like sides cheek. The touch sent a chill throughout Deceit's body, causing the ice cold feeling to set deeply into his bones. 

   "That I do, little snake. Do you know how hard it was for me to get here? I've been waiting for months to talk to you again, that damn Morality had a strong mental barrier set up... That is... Until it was broken a few hours ago." The side smirks when he notices Deceit's eyes grow wider. Deceit shakes his head and narrows his bi-colored eyes at the side in front of him. 

    "I don't care how hard it was for you, let me out of here." Deceit hisses barring his fangs, the taller side stares down at him with a bored expression. The side sighs and places two fingers on Deceit's forehead, the smaller side blinks and closes his eyes tight when the light around them suddenly disappeared and was replaced by pitch blackness. 

     "Ah, that's better. The light was never good for us dark sides, don't you agree, Dee?" The side asks while ruffling Deceit's hair, the smaller side hisses and smacks his hand away. 

     "I'm not a dark side anymore, they accepted me, and don't you dare call me that! Only my family get to call me Dee," the smaller side snaps. The white-haired side grins and tilts Deceit's head up by his chin. Deceit winces when sharp nails dig into the skin of his chin, forcing his head to stay in place. 

      "Accepted you? Oh, honey, they don't accept anyone. Look at you, you're hideous with your scales. Do you honestly believe that they like you? That you're apart of their little family?" The white-haired side asked, his touch sending ice through Deceit's veins, all the fight in the smaller sides body leaving him.

      "They... They said so! Logan tells me that my scales are beautiful and that I should never be ashamed of them! Patton says my scales make me unique and Roman said that my scales are what make me his favorite villain!" Deceit argues, the grip that the white-haired side had on his chin made the deceitful side wince. The taller side clicks his tongue and bends so he is face to face with Deceit.

      "Why don't we ask them?" The side releases his grip on Deceit's chin and snaps his fingers. Deceit blinks when he sees all of the light sides and Virgil appear around him and the white-haired side. Deceit smirks and runs over to Patton, only to be pushed away by the fatherly side. Deceit gasps and looks up, Patton's face was scrunched up in fear. 

      "Dad? W-What's wrong? I-Its me! It's Dee Dee!" Deceit exclaims as he holds his arms out, Patton screams and scrambles away from the smaller side. 

       ' _W-Why can't you just be normal!? Don't call me dad, only my kiddos get that privilege, not some monster like you!'_ Patton exclaims, Deceit flinches and looks down, he clenches his jaw and looks up at the white-haired side. 

       "I-I know what you're doing, it won't work! I know that these are just copies of my family! They're not real!" Deceit hisses, the white-haired side smirks and snaps his fingers again. Deceit blinks when they appear within the light sides common room.

        ' _Come on, Lo... It's alright. The court scenario wasn't even that fun, not with all the manipulation that evil snake was doing.'_ Deceit tenses when he hears Patton's voice, the smaller side slowly creeps over to the couch, Logan was leaning heavily against Patton. 

         ' _It looked very enjoyable from where I was sitting, Patton. I... I just can't believe that nobody wanted me there, not even Thomas wanted me there.'_ Logan replies, his usually stoic voice charged with emotions. Deceit grits his teeth and looks down at his feet, he didn't mean to make Logan feel like this. 

         ' _I wanted you there, Lo!'_ Patton argues. 

         ' _But Deceit said...'_

 _'He's a liar! You can't believe anything he says, like when he and Virgil had that argument, I bet that was all a show to make Virgil feel bad for being accepted.'_ Deceit's head snaps up at that, how could Patton say that? 

         "That doesn't sound very accepting, now does it little snake?" The smooth voice of the white-haired side tickled Deceit's ear causing the smaller side to shudder, Deceit felt himself shake his head. The white-haired side smirks and snaps his fingers once more, the scene changing over to Virgil's dark bedroom. The anxious side was ripping at something that was made of fabric. 

          ' _Virgil... You need to calm down, getting angry isn't going to help anything.'_ Says Roman as he watches Virgil tear apart the thing in his hands, Deceit moves around to see what his brother had been ripping apart. The smaller side gasps and feel tears pooling into his bi-colored eyes, Virgil had ripped apart Sir Hissalot. "Oh, dear, he destroyed the gift you gave him all those years ago!" The white-haired side cries, Deceit ignores him and continues to stare at the ruined snake plush. 

          ' _Don't tell me what to do, Princey. I just... Just can't believe what he's doing! That is not my little brother, that's just some... some freak in his place.'_ Virgil growls as he rips the plush even more. Deceit winces, his tears slipping freely down his cheeks, "S-Stop it... S-Stop showing me this stuff." Deceit whispers, the white-haired side chuckles darkly and snaps his fingers. The never-ending darkness reappeared only this time, they both appeared at the edge of it. 

          "Alright, since you don't want to see that then I'll show you something else." The side purred as he snatched Deceit by his waist, the smaller side kicks and claws at the white-haired sides hands. Deceit's breath hitches when the taller side dangles him over the edge, Deceit stops struggling and stares down into the dark abyss that was the subconscious with wide eyes. 

         "D-Don't..." He whimpers as more tears slipped down his cheeks, the white-haired side grins maliciously and pretends to drop the smaller side forcing a scream to erupt from Deceit's trembling lips. 

          "Don't what? Drop you? Oh, Dee, honey. Every villain needs a great fall and I'm going to give you yours." The side whispers as he lets go of Deceit, the smaller side screams and closes his eyes. 

           "DEE!" Deceit gasps and sits up, his breathing comes out shallow as he stares straight ahead. His whole body was trembling, he felt something wet sliding down his cheeks. The smaller side looks to his left and sees Remy and Virgil standing next to his bed, both of them staring at him with concern. More tears welled up in Deceit's bi-colored eyes as he held his arms up, Remy gently picks him up and holds him tightly. The function shuddered when Deceit buries his face into his neck, Remy looks at Virgil and mouthed, ' _He's freezing.'_ Virgil frowns and runs his fingers through Deceit's hair, wincing at how cold his brother felt. 

           "What happened, Dee Dee?" Virgil asks, Deceit looks at him and clings tighter to Remy. He knew that he should tell them about the white-haired side, but he couldn't, whenever he would even think about mentioning him his throat would constrict. 

            "I-I... I-I fell... I-I f-fell, A-Anxie." Deceit sobs while holding onto Remy for dear life, that wasn't a full lie. Deceit had indeed fallen, he had fallen into a darkness that only he knew about and he  _hated_ it.  


	2. Powerful Snek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The white-haired side finally gets to see what his puppet is made of :D

    The next morning Deceit felt sluggish, he refused to go back to sleep after he woke up from his nightmare. He didn't want to run the risk of seeing the white-haired side again, the snake-like side sighs and rubs his eyes. He could feel a headache coming on due to his lack of sleep, Deceit knew he wasn't the best person to be around when he was tired, so he made it his personal goal to stay away from the others. Sure, that worried them but he couldn't risk the chance of hurting them due to his irritability. ' _Or maybe you know that the mysterious side was right, they haven't accepted you, they're only pitying you.'_ His whispers to him, Deceit clenches his jaw and pulls his pillow over his head, he refused to hear his room lie to him. "DECEIT!" The smaller side blinks when he appears in Thomas's living room, everyone stares at him in shocked silence. 

    Deceit looks down at himself and flushes in embarrassment, he was still wearing his pajama's, which meant that he was gloveless at the moment. The snake-like side hisses and hides his hands behind his back, still not comfortable with showing them to the other light sides and Thomas. "What do you freaking want, Thomas?" Deceit snaps, his irritability causing his opposite dialect to be non-existent at the moment. Thomas shakes away his shock and opens his mouth, then closes it still not processing what he was looking at right now. A very tired looking Deceit stood between Patton and Roman wearing fuzzy yellow and green snake pajamas without his gloves and cape, he noticed that the smaller side was wearing a green beanie that he had never seen him wear before. 

    "Spit it out, damn, I don't have all freaking day." Deceit snaps again, Thomas blinks and laughs nervously rubbing the back of his neck. 

     "Are... Are you um, okay? Virgil told us about the nightmare you had last night, he said that you refused to go back to sleep and that even Remy couldn't even make you sleep." Thomas asks while grinning sheepishly, Deceit narrows his eyes and glances over to his brother. Virgil narrows his eyes back, Deceit sighs and looks back at Thomas. His body tenses when he sees the white-haired side standing behind his host, the sides blue eyes burned bright as he smiled devilishly at Deceit, giving the smaller side a small wave. Deceit grits his teeth and balls his hands into tight fists behind his back, he bares his fangs and hissed threateningly. 

     " _Get the hell away from him,"_ Deceit hisses, his voice taking on the same distorted pitch as Virgil's whenever the anxious side begins to feel his anxiety rise tremendously. The others stare at him with wide eyes, they had never heard Deceit speak like that before, nor did they even know that he had the ability to do so. 

      ' _Or what, little one~?'_ The white-haired side coos as he runs a blue-gloved hand over Thomas's shoulder, Deceit narrows his eyes causing his snake side's pupil to turn into a barely noticeable slit. Deceit unclenches his hands from behind his back and makes a grabbing motion, what the smaller side didn't notice was that he had forced Logan's hand over his own mouth. 

       " _I'll make you leave,"_ he growls never taking his eyes off of the white-haired side. The side smirks and leans forward resting his hand on Thomas's shoulder, Deceit hisses and jerks his hand down, inadvertently forcing Logan to sink back down into the subconscious. The snake-like side tenses when he notices that the white-haired side hadn't moved.

       " _No... NO! GET OUT!"_ The younger side screams as he makes the grabbing motion again, forcing Patton to slam his hand over his mouth. Deceit yanks his fist down sending the fatherly side back into the mind palace, the white-haired side stayed in place, running his fingers through Thomas's hair. 

       ' _Ooh, so close! Try again,"_ Deceit twitches and grabs at the air again once again forcing a different side to leave the real world. The only people left in Thomas's living room were him, Virgil, Thomas, and the white-haired side. 

        "DEE! STOP!" Virgil yells as he stomps over to his little brother, Deceit ignores him and keeps his eyes focused on the white-haired side. 

        ' _Yeah, Dee stop! Your freakshow is showing~.'_ The white-haired side sings, something in Deceit snaps. His snake eye glows a bright yellow as he makes the grabbing motion again only this time his fist was clenched so tight that his hand was shaking. Virgil's hand slapped painfully over his own mouth, an invisible force making the anxious sides nails dig painfully into his own skin. Virgil let's out a strangled whimper as he looks at Deceit with wide eyes, the smaller side's eye glowed a bright yellow as he kept his gazed trained at something only he could see over Thomas's right shoulder. 

        " _GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!"_ Deceit screams as he jerks his hand down hard and fast forcing his brother out of the real world and into the mind palace. The white-haired side smirks and moves away from Thomas, slowly making his over to Deceit. The snake-like side forces himself to stay still, his breathing coming out shallow and rapid. The white-haired side cups his cheek, sending a chill throughout the smaller sides body, the touch evaporating any emotion that Deceit was feeling leaving behind a temporary emptiness. 

       ' _That was a good show, little one. You're stronger than I thought,'_ the side hums causing Deceit to shudder and look away, the white-haired side grins and disappears from the real world. Deceit takes a shuddering breath and looks around the living room, the other's were gone. Deceit looks at Thomas and tenses, his host had looked horrified. 

     "W-What did you do to the others?" Thomas stammers, Deceit gasps and loosens his fists. When releases his grip, the other's return looking slightly confused, only Virgil looked more fearful. Deceit looks over to his brother and takes a small step towards him, the smaller side gasps when Virgil flinches away from him. 

      "A-Anxie?" Deceit whispers. 

       "Y-You... Y-You sent me to the e-edge of the subconscious, w-what is  _wrong_ with you!?" Virgil screams his voice becoming distorted because of his growing panic. Deceit shakes his head and takes a small step back, the smaller side squeaks when he back into someone. He looks up and sees a very angry Patton staring down at him with hard brown eyes. 

         "Dee, you need to leave, right now." Says Patton, his voice sounding so cold towards the smaller side. Deceit bites his lip and sinks out of the living room leaving the light sides alone with Thomas. Virgil gasps for air as he pulls his hood over his head, Patton rushes over to him and gently takes the anxious sides hands. 

          "Virge, it's alright kiddo. Remember your breathing exercises, in four, hold seven, out eight. That's good, kiddo, you're doing great keep going." Patton urges softly as he watches Virgil slowly regain control of himself. 

           "Guys... I don't think Dee is okay, it was like he wasn't trying to hurt any of you, but someone else, someone we couldn't see." Thomas explains slowly as he stares at a now calm Virgil. 

            "Or, maybe we made a poor choice in judgment and I was right before about him being a freakshow." Roman chimes in earning himself a glare from everyone, the princely side flails. 

             "IT'S A JOKE!" He cries, Thomas sighs and shakes his head, he looks to Logan who had a conflicted expression present on his usually stoic face. 

              "Lo, you believe me right? Even after he made you guys... I dunno disappear? He was still looking at something that I couldn't see. He even held his head as if someone had touched him. What was even weirder is that after everything his face just... Drained of any type of emotion and not to mention his lips were turning blue around the edges like he was really cold or something." Thomas explained, all at once he watched as his sides all grew tense. They all quickly said goodbye before sinking out of the living room leaving their host alone. 

               "Okay, then." 

\---------------------

         Deceit paces his room chewing on his thumbnail, how could have used his powers like that against his family? How could he send Virgil to the edge of the subconscious!? His own brother, he had forced his own brother to go to the one part of the mind palace that no side should ever go to. Then Patton looked so angry at him, the same look he gave Deceit whenever the smaller side was caught in a lie. "T-They're going to hate me," Deceit whimpers as he runs his hands through his hair, causing Maddex's beanie to fall off of his head. He let his irritability catch him off guard, he dropped his defense allowing the white-haired side to corner him like some wild animal, poking and prodding at him until he finally snapped. 

        "R-Remy!" Deceit calls, Remy appears in front of him slowly sipping at his Starbucks. The function drops his drink when he sees just how distraught his friend is, Remy pulls Deceit into a tight hug, allowing the smaller side to bury his face into Remy's chest. 

         "What happened, Dee?" Remy asks. 

          "I-I need to sleep... P-Please make me sleep." Deceit whispers, Remy frowns and kisses the top of Deceit's head, the action instantly making the smaller side fall into a dreamless slumber. Remy picks Deceit up and gently places the smaller side on his bed, the function picks up Sir Slithers and places the toy in Deceit's arms, Remy smiles when he watches the snake-like side cling to the toy. 

           "Dee! Oh, kiddo open the door please!" Patton pleads on the other side of Deceit's door, Remy frowns and opens it stopping the fatherly side from knocking the door down with his shoulder. 

            "He's sleeping, gurl. What's the matter?" Remy asks, Patton swallows thickly and looks over Remy's head. Deceit laid curled up on his bed fast asleep, holding Sir Slithers tightly against his chest. 

            "I... I think  _he_ snuck in, Remy." Patton whispers, Remy's jaw clenches as he glances over his shoulder at Deceit. 

             " _I thought you were going to protect him, Morality?"_


	3. Morality? I Barely Know Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MWHAHAHAHAHAHA! 
> 
> Have you guys figured out who the white-haired side is yet~?

     _"I thought you were going to protect him, Morality?"_ Remy growls as he closes Deceit's door behind him, Patton holds his hands up in defense, giving the function an uneasy smile. Remy takes off his sunglasses and glares full heartedly at the fatherly side. Patton gulps and takes a step back, he had never seen Remy so angry before until now. 

    "I-I am, kiddo!  _He_ must have snuck in when Maddex and Ziggy came to visit last week. They're visiting too often, I've been meaning to tell them to slow it down a bit but I never got around to it, I just love seeing Dee so happy." Patton explains, Remy narrows his eyes at Patton and points at Deceit's yellow door with a shaking hand. 

     "He didn't look too freaking happy to me, Morality! He looked  _terrified_ , begged me to make him sleep. What? Did he snap at you because he was tired and that scared your stupid little prince? Well news flash,  _Pat,_ Dee had a hard night! The fact that Virgil knew and  _still_ let Thomas call for him is even more ridiculous! I thought you light sides were supposed to care!?" Remy yells never taking his eyes off of Patton's face. The fatherly side slumps forward, the function was right. Virgil told him, had told everybody that Deceit hadn't slept well that night, but what were they supposed to do? Ignore him? A parent can't just ignore their child when they are in need! 

     "Remy, it had nothing to do with him being irritable. I promise, kiddo, Dee... Deceit used his powers against us and I don't mean his ability to just shut us up. He forced us to leave the real world, Remy, h-he forced Virgil to the end of the subconscious!" Patton cries, Remy glares more and steps forward causing Patton to take a step back. 

     "You damn liar, Dee would never do that! He may be younger than us but he has way more self-control than any of us!" Remy snaps causing Patton to flinch. 

      "He's telling the truth, Rem." Remy and Patton look over to the stairs and see Virgil standing at the top of them. The anxious sides shoulders were drawn up tight as he avoids looking at either of them. 

       "I-I know that he didn't mean to, Remy, but Dee sent me to the edge of the subconscious. I... I-I had no idea that he could do that, it... It scared me, Remy." Virgil explains softly as he forces himself to look up. Remy clenches his jaw and steps away from Patton, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. 

        "It was an accident, Vee. You know damn well that Dee would never hurt you on purpose, he wouldn't hurt any of you on purpose!" Remy argues, Patton sighs and rubs his temples. 

        "We know, kiddo, but... I think Deceit should stay away from the others, only for a bit until we can figure out if it's really  _him_ or not. Because if  _he_ is around Deceit... Then I'm sorry he cannot be around Thomas or the others, he has to stay away for their safety." Remy tenses and stares at Patton with wide eyes,  _'You son of a bitch,'_ Remy thought as he grabs Patton by the front of his shirt. 

        "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? WE LET YOU TAKE HIM, WE TRUSTED YOU TO PROTECT HIM! NOW, YOU JUST WANT TO LOCK HIM UP IN HIS ROOM!? WHAT HAPPENED TO ACCEPTING HIM!" Remy screams, Virgil rushes over and tries to pull the function away from Patton, they both missed how the emotions drained from the fatherly sides face.

        "It seems that it was a mistake accepting him," Patton mutters causing the other two to freeze in their struggle. A scream coming from Deceit's room stops Virgil and Remy from questioning Patton. The fatherly side shakes his head and looks at the yellow door across from them with fear and concern. 

\--------------

      Deceit curses when he finds himself in darkness, Remy messed up when he put him to sleep. ' _Hm, no that was me, little one.'_ Deceit spins around and squeaks when he comes face to face with bright blue eyes. The snake-like side glares and backs away from the white-haired side. 

     "Let me out of here," Deceit hisses while narrowing his eyes at the side. The white-haired side pouts and gives Deceit a sharped tooth grin, he reaches forward to stroke Deceit's cheek only to have his hand smacked away. 

      "Let me out of here, damn it!" Deceit yells. 

       ' _I'm afraid I can't, little one. Something is happening outside of here and I refuse to let it hurt you.'_ The white-haired side explains as he grabs Deceit's wrist in a tight grip, the smaller side shudders at the contact and glares weakly at the side before him. 

       "I don't care, let me out!" The white-haired side sighs but grins, he snaps his fingers and transports himself and Deceit to the conflict going on outside of his room. 

       ' _As you wish, little one, but I prefer you to stay asleep. You've exhausted yourself, you poor thing.'_ Deceit ignores the white-haired side and focuses on what's going on. Patton and Remy were standing outside of his door, Remy looked pissed completely off and Patton looked scared and ready to bolt. 

       "Remy, it had nothing to do with him being irritable. I promise, kiddo, Dee... Deceit used his powers against us and I don't mean his ability to just shut us up. He forced us to leave the real world, Remy, h-he forced Virgil to the end of the subconscious!" Patton cries, Deceit furrows his brows. Remy narrowed his eyes more and took a step towards Patton, Deceit rushes forward and tries to push his friend back only to have his hands fade through Remy's stomach. 

        "You damn liar, Dee would never do that! He may be younger than us but he has way more self-control than any of us!" Remy snaps, Patton flinched at the functions harsh words. 

         "Remy! Stop it, leave Pat alone!" Deceit hisses as he tries to push Remy again, the white-haired side smirks and moves to stand beside of Patton. ' _Keep listening, little one.'_

        "He's telling the truth, Rem." The sound of Virgil's voice made Deceit forget all about Remy, the smaller sides heart thump wildly in his chest. His brother still looked shaken up from what he had done, Deceit swallows thickly and walks over to Virgil, he didn't try to touch him knowing his hands would go through him. 

         "I-I know that he didn't mean to, Remy, but Dee sent me to the edge of the subconscious. I... I-I had no idea that he could do that, it... It scared me, Remy." Deceit tenses, that wasn't Virgil really meant, his brother had lied. _'He... He scared me, Remy.'_ That's what Virgil meant to say, the lie stood out like a sore thumb, anyone would have noticed it if they were to pay attention. 

          Deceit blocks the rest of the conversation out, he didn't bother listening anymore not knowing that his own brother was scared of him. The white-haired side smirks as he waits for the climax of the argument, he places his hand on Patton's back, taking away any type of emotion that the fatherly side had felt and whispered into Patton's ear. 

          "It seems that it was a mistake accepting him," Patton repeated after the white-haired side. Deceit flinches and looks up at Patton with wide bi-colored eyes, the white-haired side appears in front of him. 

          ' _Oh my... See little one, I told you that they hadn't truly accepted you. You're not Virgil... No one could ever accept someone like you, only I can.'_ The side mutters while stroking Deceit's cheek, the snake-like side swallows thickly. The side was right, but not about everyone, only Patton didn't accept him, the thought made him laugh that even morality lied. 

          ' _I can take the pain away,'_ Deceit looks up with tear-filled bi-colored eyes, he wanted to say no that they could work it out but that wasn't what came out of the smaller sides mouth. 

          "P-Please... Get rid of the pain Morality c-caused," Deceit whispers. The white-haired side smirks and places his gloved hand over Deceit's chest, the smaller side gasps and screams. 

     Deceit sits up in his bed breathing heavily, he looks around his room with wide eyes. There was no sign of the white-haired side, he sighs in relief and relaxes back into his pillows. The smaller side frowns, something didn't feel right, Deceit jumps when his door slams open. Remy and Virgil rush in tackling the snake-like side into a tight hug, Patton stands in the doorway. Deceit looks at him and allows his face to go blank. 

     "Virgil, Remy, who is that in the door?" Deceit asks, his voice taking on that sultry tone that he only used for the videos. The other's tense and looks at him with wide eyes, his blank eyes remain on Patton. 

      "That's... That's Patton, Dee Dee. You know? Morality?" Virgil explains, Deceit feels a small smirk tug at his lips as he keeps staring at Patton. 

       "Morality? I barely know her." 


	4. Don't Lie to Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Don't lie to me, Virgil."

   Deceit gasps for breath as he sets up in his bed, he pants heavily and looks around his room with wild bi-colored eyes. "P-Pat..." He whispers, Deceit bites his lip when a shockwave of pain shoots through his chest, he grips his shirt tight and bows his head. Tears stream down his cheeks as he shakes, ' _S-Stop, I-I want P-Patton.'_ He thought, the pain slowly faded, as it went away it took the want of Patton with it, leaving Deceit feeling empty. More tears slip down his cheeks as he stares at his ungloved hands.

   "My dream wasn't a nightmare... It was a reality. Morality will fade first," he tells himself as he allows a small smirk to form on his face. ' _NO!'_ Deceit winces when his room screams at him, he looks around with his eyes narrowed. Nobody was in there except him, he sneers and flops back down on his bed. Deceit wipes his face off with his sleeve and turns over to face the wall. 

    "Yes," he hissed as he closes his eyes. Deceit missed how the shadows in his room shifted, he missed the white-haired side that appeared in his room. A victorious smirk on his face, the side walks over and bends down next to Deceit. 

     "I knew you would be the best candidate for this... After all... You are the one who controls them all." The side whispers as he trails his fingers across the now sleeping side's cheek. Deceit shudders and snuggles deeper into his covers, oblivious to the side who was controlling his every move. 

\-------------

     "Patton... He didn't mean it, Dee is just stressed. One of his coping mechanisms is to push people away he'll come around, dad." Virgil assures as he rubs Patton's back, the fatherly side shakes his head and continues to cry. Virgil didn't see what he saw, the anxious didn't see the blue hue that shown in Deceit's eyes. ' _I failed him...'_ Patton thought as he sobbed louder. Virgil flinches and wraps his arms around Patton, hoping that a hug would help the older side calm down. 

      "H-He... H-He got him, V-Virgil. I-I don't know w-what to do... H-How can w-we help him without f-forcing him to fade?" Patton asks his face red and stained with tears as he looks up at Virgil. The anxious side looks away and shifts uncomfortably. 

       "Pat... I... Who is this  _he?_ You guys keep mentioning him but you're not saying who  _he_ is. What is he doing to Dee?" Virgil asks, Patton sighs and wipes his eyes with shaking hands. The fatherly side takes a shuddering breath and looks away. 

        "A-Apathy... I-Its Apathy, kiddo. You... And the other dark sides don't know him because me, Roman, and Logan got rid of him before you kiddos formed. We... We were about four, it was before Thomas ever told a lie or before he ever got truly anxious, angry, or jealous. Though... He was apathetic, you know how children are... Not caring to tell you like it is, no filter. That's how Apathy came to be but he just... He wanted to be in control." Patton explains, Virgil furrows his brows and takes Patton's hand in his. 

        "Okay, but what does this have anything to do with Dee? Why does Apathy want my little brother, Patton?" Virgil asks, Patton swallows thickly and looks at Virgil. His eyes locked onto the anxious sides. 

         "Deceit... Is more than just lies, kiddo. He is self-preservation. Meaning, that he controls just about everything in the mindscape, including us. That's why he has the ability to shut us up at any time he wants, his purpose is to protect Thomas from anything especially harmful. Like... Let's say that Logan is seeing too literal into things, this can cause Thomas to have a panic attack, thus triggering you because Logan is making things too clear for him. Deceit would be able to shut Logan down, force him to be quiet and step in... Or as we saw a few days ago... Make him leave altogether." Patton explains, Virgil frowns. 

         "But when Dee was doing all of that, it was like he had no idea he was doing it." 

          "That's because whatever Deceit saw... He blanked. His function took over, all he had on his mind at that moment was protecting Thomas. It happens to all of us at least once, but... Deceit is just... he's young kiddo. I know we're all the same age, but if you think about it we're not. Like you said before, Deceit was the last of us to be created. We were all six when he was created, yes, he was six too, but he... He has a bit of a younger mindset. Making him susceptible to Apathy's power... I just... Can't believe that monster is still  _alive."_ Patton growled the last part, Virgil shudders at the tone that the usually happy side had used. 

          "Is... Is that why he didn't remember you? Did Apathy do that?" Virgil whispers. 

          "Yes... If we don't stop him soon then he's going to get what he wants, because with Deceit under his control... Us and Thomas will be doomed." 

\----------------------

          Deceit yawns as he walks downstairs, it was quiet this morning. The other's must be helping Thomas with a problem, "Good morning, Dee." The smaller side looks up and sees Virgil sitting at the kitchen table, two mugs in front of him. Deceit gives his brother a tired smile and flops down in the chair next to him. 

          "Evening, Vee..." He says as he takes the yellow mug that Virgil had pushed towards him. He takes a small sip and sighs happily, he looks up at Virgil and furrows his brows. The anxious side was staring at him with hard eyes, the look made him feel uncomfortable. 

          "What?" He asks, Virgil leans forward a bit and tilts his head. 

           "Patton," he says. Virgil watches in shock as all emotion drained from Deceit's face, the snake-like side looks at him with a bored expression as he sips his tea silently. 

            "His name is Morality, Virgil. It is who he is, that and a thorn in my side." Deceit replies, his voice almost as stoic as Logan's. Virgil leans back and clears his throat, he could feel his anxiety building. 

             "R-Right, well, Dee I have to go. Thomas is calling for me, don't get on the counter okay?" Virgil quickly stands up, before he could sink out Deceit wrapped his hand around Virgil's wrist painfully tight. The smaller side narrows his bi-colored eyes at his brother, Virgil felt his blood turn into ice when Deceit had grabbed his wrist. 

              "Are you scared of me, Virgil?" Deceit asks the anxious side shakes his head. Deceit hisses and grips Virgil's wrist even tighter causing the anxious side to inhale sharply. 

             "Don't lie to me, Virgil." 

              "I-I'm not! How could I be scared of a midget, I mean come on, Dee!" Virgil laughs, he silently hoped that Deceit hadn't looked right through him. Deceit stares at him a bit longer before he lets his brother go. 

               "I could still kick your ass," he mumbles as he sinks down in his seat, a tired expression on his scaly face. Virgil gulps and quickly nods, he rubs his wrist and gives Deceit an uneasy smile. 

                "Y-You could, I gotta go Dee. Be good," he says quickly as he sinks out of the kitchen. Deceit stares at the now empty spot that once held Virgil, he sips at his tea and leans his head back. 

                 "Liar..." He murmurs weakly. 

\-------------------

       Virgil pops up in Thomas's living room causing the other's except for Logan to scream, he holds his hand up and gently shakes his head. ' _Gotta stop doing that,'_ he thought as he took a deep breath to stabilize himself. "How was he, kiddo?" Patton asks as he walks over to help Virgil sit down on the stairs. 

       "He's... He's not doing good," he whispers as he lifts his hoodie sleeve, the others gasp when they see the thin finger-like bruises on Virgil's right wrist. 

       "We're... We're too late," Patton whispers. Thomas looks at his sides in confusion, ' _What is going on?'_ He thought. 

         "Guys, why are we all meeting like this in secret? Where's Deceit?" Thomas asks the four light sides all share a look before they all look at Thomas again. Would they be able to tell him what was going on?  They doubted it, but it wouldn't hurt to try. 

          "A... A side from your past is back, Thomas, and he is targetting Deceit." Logan explains.

           "What? Who is it?" Thomas asks he could feel Virgil's influence, but Thomas ignored it. He had to get to the bottom of this, he had to help Deceit anyway he can. 

           "His name is A- MM!" Roman was cut off by his hand slapping across his mouth. Everyone in the room tenses as they look over to the spot where Deceit normally stood. The smaller side stood there in his normal clothes, his gloved hand clenched tight. Patton bites the inside of his lip when he notices the blue hue shining in Deceit's bi-colored eyes. 

           "Now, now Roman, there's no need to alarm, Thomas." 


	5. Can't Have Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IM SO SORRY DEE DEE!!!!!!!!

   Everyone stares at Deceit in shocked silence, his hand clenched tight causing Roman to squeeze his own jaw painfully. "Now, now Roman, there is no need to alarm, Thomas." Deceit purred as he slowly unclenched his hand, Roman's hand falls from his mouth causing the fanciful side to rub his jaw that was slowly blooming to life with a bruise. Thomas narrows his eyes at Deceit and straightens his poster.

   "Deceit, I want to know what's going on, now," Thomas demands, Deceit glances over to his host and hisses. 

    "You don't need to know shit, Thomas. I'm fine, they're just being a tad bit touchy." Deceit explains while glaring at his host, Thomas didn't want to falter, but the intenseness from Deceit's glare sent him shutting down. Thomas curls in on himself and looks away from the snake-like side, Deceit smirks and turns to look at Patton. ' _Do it,'_ a voice whispers to Deceit. The smaller side holds his hand up and glares hatefully at the fatherly side. 

    "I do hate to do this, really, but Morality it's time that you've taken your leave...  _permanently."_ Says Deceit his voice growing distorted at the end, Patton gulps and slowly makes his way over to Deceit, causing the smaller side to take a faltering step back. Patton gives the smaller side a smile, he moves closer. Patton couldn't help but notice how shaky Deceit's hands had become. 

     "Oh... Kiddo, don't be afraid, it's ok." Patton assures as he steps closer to Deceit, the smaller side shakes more, but not from fear. Deceit was fighting with himself, trying to stop himself from sending Patton away. ' _DO IT!'_ The voice screams louder causing Deceit to flinch, the smaller side looks up at Patton with tear-filled bi-colored eyes. 

     "P-Pat..." He whispers. Deceit inhales sharply and grabs at his chest, he closes his eyes tight and lets out a strangled cry for help. The pain kept Deceit from realizing that one of the others had scooped him up from the floor and into their arms. Deceit unconsciously grabs onto the other's shirt, clinging to them for dear life. ' _M-Make it stop, please!'_

     "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Patton yells as he holds Deceit tight, Logan and Roman rush forward and engulf the two other sides into a tight hug. Virgil stays back staring at the others, ' _How can I help?'_ He thought as he watched the other light sides hold onto his trembling little brother. Deceit winces and opens his eyes a little, he gasps when he sees Apathy crouching next to Virgil, the white-haired side glances over to him and smirks. 

      "V-Virge..." Deceit rasps, the others hadn't heard him. They tightened their hold on the smaller side, Deceit watched helplessly as Apathy placed his hand on Virgil's knee. He noticed how the anxious side shuddered and watched as all emotion faded from his brother's face. 

       "C-Can't... H-Have him..." Deceit whispers, he watches as Apathy disappears from Virgil and appears right in front of him. Nobody had reacted to him, telling Deceit that only he could still see the side. 

        ' _Well, it seems you have a choice to make then. What will it be little one? Do you join me or does your brother?'_ Apathy asks as he trails his fingers down Deceit's cheek, causing the smaller side to shudder. 

        " _N-Neither,"_ he hissed as he makes a grabbing motion. He smirks when Apathy's hand flew over his mouth, but his smirk falters when he sees the angry look within Apathy's bright blue eyes. Deceit shakes his head and pulls his hand down sending Apathy back into the subconscious where he belonged. Deceit unclenches his hand and relaxes, ' _F-Finally...'_ he thought. Deceit looks at Virgil and holds his hand out making a grabbing motion. Virgil smiles and joins the little protective hug that was around Deceit. 

         "Um... Guys, not that this isn't cute, but can someone  _please_ tell me what's going on here?" Thomas asks, the sides look at him and laugh nervously. Deceit moves out of their protective hug and looks at Thomas. 

          "His... H-Hiss, name i-iss Apathy." Deceit struggled for a moment, a pain shooting through his chest. He rubs his chest lightly and swallows thickly. Deceit looks up when Patton wraps a protective arm around the smaller sides shoulders. 

           "He faded years ago, kiddo. Only recently has he decided to show his ugly face, he targeted Deceit because where he is your self-preservation. He's wanting to take control but you won't have to worry about that! He's gone." Patton explains, Thomas relaxes and gives the fatherly side an uneasy smile. Deceit smiles back and leans his head against Patton's waist. 

            ' _I don't think so, if I'm going to be trapped in the subconscious then so are you!'_ Deceit tenses when he hears Apathy's voice in his head, the smaller side blinks his eyes beginning to grow bleary. "P-Patton?" He slurs, the last thing Deceit saw was Thomas's living room floor rushing up to meet his face. 

\--------------

     Deceit gasps and sits up, his heart drops when he sees the never-ending darkness that is the subconscious. "My, my well aren't  _you_ sight for sore eyes~." The familiar voice of Apathy's purrs, Deceit looks up and gulps when his bi-colored eyes meet a very angry pair of bright blue eyes. Apathy smirks showing off his rows of sharp teeth, he grips Deceit's chin tightly causing the smaller side to hiss in pain. 

     "Let's have a chat, Draven." 


	6. Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You honestly think they like you? Please, stop lying to yourself Draven. You're only hurting yourself even more."~Apathy

   "Let's have a chat,  _Draven."_ Apathy purrs as he trails his fingers down Deceit's cheek, the smaller side flinches away and backs away from the older dark side. Deceit looks up at him with wide eyes, Apathy couldn't help but smirk at him. Deceit swallows thickly and closes his eyes tight, ' _Let me out, let me out, let.me.out.'_ He thought as he clenches his jaw tight. Deceit yelps when Apathy grabs him by his hair, causing his bowler hat to tumble off of his head, Deceit takes a shuddering breath and stares at the older side with wide eyes. 

    "You really think you can just, will yourself away? Not even a chance, Draven. I've been in this hell-hole much longer than you, I rule the subconscious and you're going to be staying here with me for a very long time until I get what I want." Apathy explains as he pulls at Deceit's hair more, the smaller side hisses and narrows his eyes at the older side. 

   "S-Stop calling me that, it's not my name, a-and my family will come to get me, just you  _wait_." Deceit hisses, Apathy couldn't help but laugh as he throws Deceit down onto the subconscious' dark floor. 

    "They don't even know where you are, in fact, they think you're still with them. See, the best thing about the subconscious is that it gives me the ability to bring people's conscious instead of their whole body." Deceit pales and looks up at Apathy in fear, the older side grins showing off his sharp teeth as he bends down to be face to face with Deceit, their noses almost touching. 

    "So, as I said,  _Draven._ Let's have a chat," Apathy growls as he pulls Deceit up from the floor, the smaller side squirms and kicks. Deceit bares his fangs and hisses threateningly at Apathy. 

    "I'm not going to help you! Y-You can't make me!" Deceit yells, Apathy laughs and brings his face close to Deceit's a twisted smirk present on his pale face. 

    "I can make you do whatever I want, you're in my domain little one and there's not a damn thing you or your pathetic family can do about it." Apathy replies, he holds onto Deceit tight as he sinks down. Deceit closes his eyes tight, a wave of nausea washes over him when the two of them pop up. Apathy grabs a fist full of Deceit's hair and jerks his head back forcing the smaller side to open his eyes. Deceit tenses when he sees the memory of when he first came to be in the mind palace, all of the hate and disgust filled looks on the faces of the others. 

     "Look, they didn't even accept you before. Called you a freak, pushed you away because of your looks, but you wouldn't have to worry about that with me. I find your scales quite beautiful if I must say." Apathy whispers in Deceit's ear causing the smaller side to shudder, Deceit swallows thickly and shakes his head. 

      "E-Even if they did hate me then, that memory wasn't all bad. Virgil and the other dark sides accepted me for my looks and everything else." Deceit replies, he watches as the memory shifts showing them the group hug that he, Virgil, Ziggy, and Maddex had shared. Apathy scoffs and waves his hand, Virgil stood across from them, his eyes glowing a faint purple showing off his anger. 

       ' _YOU FREAK!'_ Virgil screams, Deceit flinches and clenches his jaw. He squirms in Apathy's hold, this made the taller side smirk as he waves his hand again, bringing forth the other light sides. 

        ' _I can't stand this guy and his creepy snake face!'_ Roman exclaims. 

        ' _He's a liar, Lo! You can't believe anything he says!'_ Patton yells. 

        ' _Look at what you did, you made Thomas do something bad.'_ Logan growls, Deceit closes his eyes and kicks his legs. 

         " _S-STOP IT! L-LET ME GO!"_ He yells his voice becoming distorted, Apathy smirks and waves his hand again making the light sides disappear. Apathy snaps his fingers and conjures copies of Maddex, Ziggy, and Remy. 

          ' _You were the worst fucking thing that ever happened to us, you're the reason WE CAN'T BE ACCEPTED!'_ Ziggy yells his red-eyes burning intensely, Deceit gasps and looks up, tears filling his bi-colored eyes. 

          ' _What the hell do you have that we don't? You're ugly with those stupid scales, a freak, a MONSTER!'_ Maddex growls, Deceit shakes his head, his tears slipping down his cheeks. 

          ' _We hate you, Deceit. You can't even tell us your real name when you know all of ours, why can't you just fade already?'_ Remy snaps, pulling off his sunglasses. Deceit recoils at the hatred that was present in his best friend's eyes. ' _T-They're not r-real... N-Not r-real.'_ He told himself as he tries to calm down, ' _You know it's true! You're a nuisance, you can never do anything right!'_ Another voice spoke inside his head causing him to flinch. 

         "N-No... N-N-No, I-Its not r-real." Deceit whispers, Apathy smirks and tilts Deceit's head up so that their eyes met. 

          "You poor thing... Lying to yourself again? That isn't healthy," Apathy tuts. Deceit narrows his eyes and tries to break away from Apathy's hold, forcing the older side to tighten his grip. 

          "I-I'm n-not... I-I'm not l-lying!" Deceit screams. 

          "Oh, so you honestly think they like you? Please, stop lying to yourself Draven. You're only hurting yourself more," Apathy pouts as he trails his gloved fingers down Deceit's neck causing the smaller side to shudder in discomfort. 

          " _IM NOT LYING YOU ASSHOLE!"_ Deceit screams, his voice distorting, even more, his yellow snake eye glowing brightly in the darkness of the subconscious. 

           "Yes you are, that's all you do is  _lie._ No one could accept someone like you, always lying to your friends and family. You're even lying about your name, they've trusted you with theirs, now, what's your excuse,  _Draven."_ Apathy hisses as he grips Deceit by his throat, the smaller side gasps and grips the older sides wrist tight. 

            "T-That... T-That's not my n-name," Deceit wheezes. Apathy growls and squeezes his throat tighter.

             "YES, IT IS! STOP LYING!" Deceit closes his eyes and lets out a strangled scream. 

              "O-OKAY!! I-IT IS! L-LET G-GO, P-PLEASE!" Deceit cries, Apathy smirks and drops him. Deceit holds his throat and gasps for air, he looks up at Apathy and swallows. 

     "Very good, Draven! Now, we just need to work on your other lie." Apathy praises as he scoops Deceit up once more, he snaps his fingers and teleports them to the edge of the subconscious. Deceit stares over the edge with wide eyes as Apathy dangles him over it by holding onto his foot. 

      " _They don't accept you."_

\-------------------

      Patton watches as Deceit's face scrunches up in fear, he had moved him over to Thomas's couch after the smaller side had fainted. Patton chews his bottom lip and runs his fingers through Deceit's hair. "C-Come on, kiddo, wake up." Patton whispers, a panicked whimper slips from Deceit's mouth. 

      " _What happened!"_ Everyone jumps when an enraged Remy appears in the room, Virgil walks over to the function and places his hands on his shoulders only to have the gesture shrugged off. 

       "ANSWER ME!" He yells. 

        "We... We don't know, Rem. After we got rid of Apathy, Dee just passed out... We can't get him awake." Virgil explains, Remy narrows his eyes at the anxious side and walks over to where Deceit was laying on the couch. He brushes his fingers over Deceit's forward and jerks his hand back. 

         "He's freezing, that means Apathy's got him," Remy growls, he pulls his jacket and sunglasses off. 

          "I'm going into his dream after him, when he wakes up you guys need to be ready to catch him," Remy explains as he places his hand on Deceit's forehead, Patton grabs his hand and looks at the function with serious eyes. 

           "I'm coming too, Apathy won't let him go willingly," Patton says, Remy sighs and mutters fine. 

            "Don't let go of my hand pops." 

\------------------

     Deceit screams as his arms flail, " _L-LET ME UP, P-PLEASE!"_ He cries he could feel Apathy's hand slipping away from his ankle, the older side was going to let him fall. Apathy chuckles and pretends to drop him, eliciting another scream from the smaller side. 

    "Not until you stop lying to yourself," Apathy purrs. Deceit closes his eyes tight, ' _I'm going to fall, I-I'm going to fall!'_

     " _T-THEY DON'T ACCEPT ME!! T-THEY HATE ME A-AND ALL THEY DO IS LIE TO ME! A-ALL OF THEM!"_ Deceit screams until his throat is raw, Apathy grins and lifts Deceit up so that they are face to face, Deceit takes in a shuddering breath and stares at Apathy with red and teary eyes. 

      "Good boy~! Now, have a safe trip." Apathy smirks as he drops Deceit off the edge of the subconscious, Deceit screams and holds out a gloved hand, but nobody was there to catch him. 

       " _NO!"_ He had heard two people scream, but that was the last thing he heard beside his own terrified scream before everything fell black around him once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry


	7. Empty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :D :D :D

  "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!?" Patton yells as he grabs the front of Apathy's shirt, the dark side smirks down at Patton and simply shrugs his shoulders. Patton growls and throws Apathy to the floor of the subconscious and rushes over to the edge. Remy grabs him by his waist and pulls the fatherly side back causing Patton to squirm, Remy holds onto him tighter and pulls him away. 

   "LET GO! L-LET GO!" Patton screams as tears stream down his face. 

   "WHY SO YOU CAN FADE T-TOO? H-HE'S GONE PAT!" Remy yells, his own tears falling freely. Apathy let's out a chuckle and stands up from the floor, he dusts himself off and clears his throat gaining Remy and Patton's attention.

     "Oh, dear. He's not faded... He's just had his great fall, now, if you'll both excuse me I have something that needs to be taken care of." Apathy smirks as he bows disappearing as he does. Patton growls and balls his hands into tight fists. 

     "G-Get us o-out of here Remy, y-you heard him Dee didn't f-faded he's o-okay." Patton stammers, Remy bites his lip and nods as he snaps his fingers. Patton squints at the sudden brightness of the real world, he blinks his eyes hard and looks around Thomas's living room. Everyone was gathered around the couch, even Remy was over there already. Patton gulps and rushes over pushing Roman and Logan aside, he inhales sharply when he sees Deceit. The smaller side looks pale, his normally bright green scales had dulled to an ashy grey. Patton bites his lip as he tries to keep a sob in, ' _P-Please wake up, kiddo, please.'_ He thought as he moves to sit beside Deceit, he takes the other sides hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. 

     "What happened in there?" Virgil whispers as he nudges Remy, the function looks away and clenches his jaw tight. 

      "T-That bastard dropped him a-and we were too l-late to catch him," Remy chokes as he glances over to Deceit. The smaller side was still breathing that was a good sign, but it would be even great if he would just wake up. Virgil bows his head and closes his eyes tight. 

       "I-I should have gone too, I could have caught him." Virgil mumbles, everyone looks up when they hear coughing coming from the couch. Deceit wheezes lightly and slowly open his eyes, he squints at the light and puts his arm over his eyes groaning. 

        "D-DEE!" Patton cries as he pulls the smaller side into a hug, Deceit tenses and opens his eyes wide. He scrambles away from Patton and stares at the older side in fear, Deceit swallows thickly and winces at how dry his throat is. Patton holds his hands up showing that he wasn't going to hurt Deceit. 

        "I'm sorry! I was just worried about you, kiddo." Patton assures, Deceit continues to stare at Patton his eyes slowly looking at the others behind the fatherly side. Deceit presses himself firmly into the couch and whimpers. 

         "W-Who... W-Who are you?" Deceit asks, Patton deflates and stares at Deceit in silence. 

          "I-Its Patton, kiddo! Don't you remember, dad?" Patton exclaims, Deceit swallows thickly and furrows his brows. He had no idea what this light side was talking about, he was scared and cold. 

           "M-My... D-Dad is A-Apathy, you're d-definitely not him." Deceit stammers, Patton gasps and puts his hands over his mouth. Virgil steps forward and pushes Patton towards Logan and Roman, he bends down in front of Deceit and tilts his head. 

            "Dee Dee, Apathy isn't your dad. He's an evil bastard who's been torturing you for almost a month now," Virgil explains. Deceit narrows his eyes at the anxious side and hisses. 

            "He is not evil! He took me in when none of you would! Called me a freak over something I can't control!" Deceit snaps, Virgil clenches his jaw and takes a deep breath. 

            "He's lying to you, Deceit. Snap out of it!" Deceit hisses and makes a grabbing motion forcing Virgil's hand over his mouth, the snake-like side narrows his eyes at the older side. 

             "He's not the liar here, all of you are. Now,  _leave me alone."_ He growled his voice becoming distorted as he sinks out of the room. Virgil drops his hand from his mouth and stares at the spot where his little brother was. ' _Dee...'_

\-------------------

       "Oh, you poor thing! Look at you, so small and fragile, I can't believe that the light and dark sides abandoned you here." Apathy coos as he picks up a small child, the child sniffles and clings tightly to the older side. Apathy tuts and runs his fingers through the child's hair. 

        "Now, didn't I tell you that they didn't care? Just look at what they did, turned you away, all because of your looks." The child clings to Apathy tighter, a gentle hiss leaving the child's lips. 

         " _Y-You did thiss to me!"_ The child screams, Apathy smirks and holds the tiny side up peering into his bi-colored eyes. 

          "I suppose I did, Draven. You see the best thing about falling over the subconscious in a dream that I control, it separates the side who fell from their body, or well it separates their conscious." Apathy explains as he squeezes Deceit's cheek, the smaller side hisses, and bats his hand away. Apathy glares and grabs the toddler sides hand chilling it to the bone causing Deceit to scream. 

          "This is why I had to do this little one, your disobedience. You may be self-preservation, but that can be broken. Since you've been reduced to this I'll be finishing what I started all those years ago, and the best part? They won't even know where you are, your conscience may be with me but your body is with them, and would you look at that?" Apathy smirks as he holds up his left hand, showing off the blue strings that were wrapped around his fingers. 

          "I'm the one in control, it's a shame that I can only control that ability of yours to shut them up, but soon I'll be able to control that other one as well. I told you, Draven, you  _are_ going to be my puppet, even if I have to break you to do it." 

           Deceit gulps as tears shine in his bi-colored eyes, ' _I've fallen...'_


	8. Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'm a monster..."

   Deceit couldn't breathe, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get in a single breath. The walls of the dark closet were beginning to close in on him, what day was it? How long had Apathy kept him inside the closet? He wasn't sure, the smaller side was beginning to lose hope because here he was, trapped in the body of a toddler once again with a mad man, while his body was being controlled by said man fooling his friends and family. Deceit whimpers and leans his head against the door, ' _Give in. Stop lying to yourself and him, just give in!'_ A voice snaps at him causing Deceit to flinch, the smaller side shakes his head and takes in a shuddering breath. "N-No... I-I refusse," he whispers as he balls his small hands into tight fists. The voice growls, ' _Then suffer.'_ Deceit bites the inside of his jaw and closes his eyes tight, a sob leaves his trembling lips as he bangs his fist against the door. 

   "P-Please...  _Please!_ Let me out!" Deceit begged, no one had answered him. Deceit cries and bangs on the door more, he couldn't take it anymore he wanted out, no, he needed out. It was too dark and the room was too small, he couldn't breathe, someone needs to let him out. 

   "Oh, dear. Someone sounds scared," Deceit freezes when he hears Apathy's muffled voice. Deceit swallows hard and gently knocks on the door, he bites back a whimper when he hears the older side knockback. 

    "P-Please, let me out. I-I'll be good." Deceit pleads. 

     "Will you, now? Are you going to be extra good for me, Draven? Listen to every word I say?" Apathy asks, Deceit stays quiet and moves away from the door, he narrows his bi-colored eyes, his snake eye glowing faintly in the darkness. 

     " _Never,"_ he hissed allowing his voice to become distorted. Apathy clicks his tongue, Deceit strains to listen as he hears the older side shuffle away from the closet door. 

     "That's a real shame, Draven. I guess that means you'll just have to stay in there longer," Apathy replies. Deceit's heart drops when he hears the door to Apathy's room shut, silence following behind. Deceit closes his eyes tight and bangs his head against the wall of the closet, ' _Stupid, I-I'm so stupid.'_ He thought as he runs his shaky hands through his hair, he didn't want to be here anymore. Being with the older side was like living his own personal hell, he wasn't sure how long it had been, but the first day while being in Apathy's hands he was taught a lesson that he would never forget. Don't  _ever_ try to bite the older side, Deceit made that mistake and was punished by having his fangs pulled from his mouth. He knew that they would grow back, but that didn't change the fact that it still hurt. 

     ' _Well, maybe if you weren't such a screw up he wouldn't hurt you, ever thought of that?'_ A voice sneered inside his head, Deceit bows his head and hides his face in the folds of his bruised arms, Apathy wasn't exactly gentle whenever he would hold the smaller side. Deceit sighs and lays down on the closet floor staring blankly up at the black ceiling above him, ' _Let me go home...'_

\-------------

   "Oh Deceit~! Wake up, kiddo!" Deceit jumps and sits up, he blinks his eyes owlishly when he comes nose to nose with Patton. The fatherly side grins wide at him, Deceit backs away slightly and looks around. He was no longer in the small dark closet, he was in his room covered in his nice warm pajamas along with a big fluffy blanket. Sir Slithers laid beside him, ' _I-It was a dream?'_ He thought as he looks from his plush snake back to Patton who's grin was still plastered on his face. 

    "I... I-Is it really you, Pat?" Deceit whispers, Patton furrows his brows and tilts his head in confusion. 

    "Of course, kiddo! Who else would I be?" Patton asks, Deceit swallows and shakes his head. He chuckles softly and looks up at Patton with a small smile on his face, the smaller side leans back into his pillows. 

     "N-No one, I just had the... T-The most horrible dream." Deceit replies. 

      "Was it about Virgil again, Dee? Because if it was then it's okay, he's in a better place now." Patton assures as he ruffles Deceit's hair, the smaller side blinks and looks up at the fatherly side. 

      "W-What do you mean? V-Virgil is fine!" Deceit exclaims. 

       "Oh, kiddo... Not again. Virgil faded, Deceit, he fell into the subconscious the day you accidentally sent him there, but it's okay! He's in a much better place, now, how about we get some pancakes yea?" 

\-------------

    Apathy hums as he holds a sleeping Deceit in his arms, his right hand glowing as he brushes his fingers through the smaller sides knotted hair. "If I can't get to you while you're awake then I'll get to you whilst you sleep, you poor naive little snake." Apathy mutters as he slowly tightens his hold on Deceit's hair, a look of discomfort flickering over the toddler sleeping face. 

    "Your obsession is quite unhealthy you know," Apathy looks up and narrows his eyes. 

     "Oh shut up, you're just an empty shell with part of my conscience, you have no room to judge me." Apathy snaps, an older Deceit smirks back at the older side. 

      "True, but at least I know that trying to corrupt self-preservation itself is going to be a hard task." Apathy cocks his eyebrow at his puppet and tilts his head allowing his white bangs to fall over his eyes. 

       "Elaborate," he replies. 

        "Draven is a child at the moment, meaning that he has the mannerisms of a child, well mostly. What is it that children fear most?" Puppet Deceit asks as he sits down on the floor staring up at Apathy. The older side gives the puppet a bored expression, the puppet sighs. 

         "Monsters, they're afraid of monsters. Though this is Draven we're talking about, he isn't just scared of a monster, he scared of  _the_ monster. Himself," the puppet explains, a sinister smirk that matched Apathy's stretching across his scaly face. Apathy mimicked the smirk. 

         "Well, let's make him into a monster then." 

\---------------

    "W-Wait, I-I made Virgil fade?" Deceit asks Patton smiles and nods. 

    "You did, but don't worry, the others won't ever mention it again. Not after you sent Roman to the edge and almost pushed him, we've learned our place, Deceit." Patton replies, Deceit flinches when he sees the flash of fear in the older side eyes. This couldn't be real, there was no way that he would have made his brother fade right? He could have sworn that he brought Virgil back that day. 

     "I... B-But I didn't..." He whispers. 

     "Oh, but you did, kiddo! You're such a horrible monster, poor Remy, Ziggy, and Maddex didn't even have a chance last night. They faded just as quickly as Virgil did, all because they didn't listen to you." Deceit looks up at Patton with wide eyes. 

     "N-No! I-I didn't... I-I wouldn't..." 

      "Stop lying to yourself, Deceit. You're a  _monster."_ Deceit felt something in him snap, just like it had the day when he tried to force Apathy to leave. The smaller side hisses and looks up at Patton his yellow eye shining bright as he makes a grabbing motion. 

      " _IM NOT LYING!"_ He screams as he jerks his hand down, forcing Patton to disappear. Deceit pants and keeps his fist clenched tight, ' _I'm not lying, stop saying I am. IM NOT LYING!'_ He thought, Deceit gasps when Patton's presence completely disappears from the mindscape. Tears fill Deceit's eyes as he stares down at his trembling hands, ' _N-No... I-I didn't m-mean to.'_ Tears slip down the snake-like side's face as he bows his head resting his chin on his chest. 

       " _I'm a monster..."_

 


	9. Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How do you break self-preservation?

   Deceit hugs his knees tight as he stares into the darkness of the closet, he was bad again. He tried to attack Apathy and the older side didn't enjoy that one bit, so he forced Deceit back into the closet, but not before the older side pulled his right arm out of its socket. The pain was dull, Deceit didn't really care about that, he wanted to so desperately give up, but he knew that he couldn't let his family down. If he were to give up now then his family would be in danger, he couldn't risk them being locked away, he couldn't risk Apathy taking control and turning Thomas into an unfeeling monster. "T-They're counting on me... I-I love them too much to just give up now," he whispers. He still wasn't sure how long he had been with Apathy, the older side kept him trapped within his own dream for at least a day, he was sure of it. The dream was horrible, Deceit was a monster,  _is_ a monster. 

  Deceit closes his eyes when the door opens, flooding the dark closet with a bright light. He opens his eyes and squints, Apathy smirks down at him tilting his head in an innocent way. "Have you learned your lesson, Draven?" Apathy asks, Deceit swallows thickly and slowly nods his head. Apathy smiles and bends down so that he is face to face with Deceit. The older side grabs Deceit's arm and pops it back in place, earning a sharp inhale from his captive. 

 "Good boy, you know I learned something interesting today." Apathy says as he picks Deceit up placing the child on his hip, Deceit lays his head tiredly on the older sides shoulder, ' _I don't care,'_ he thought. Deceit knew better than to actually say that to the older side, Apathy hated his attitude more than his disobedience. 

  "W-What was it?" He asks softly while staring at the wall in front of him. Apathy smirks and gently runs his fingers through Deceit's hair, ' _So close.'_

   "Well, while I was controlling your body today I heard some... Very choice words come from the other's mouths." Deceit looks at the other side then, his brows furrowed. Did the others know that that wasn't really him they were seeing? Were they coming to save him finally? 

    "Mm... Now, that I'm thinking about it, it's not very suitable for children." Apathy pouts as he sets Deceit on his bed, the snake-like side looks up and narrows his eyes at Apathy, hissing softly. 

    "T-Tell me," he says. 

     "Well, if you insist, little one. I heard the light sides say that they were glad that you were gone. As you know I haven't been parading your body around the mindscape, no need to show off an empty shell right? Anyway, I heard them say that they wished you had indeed faded, but you not being around was fine." Apathy explains as he pulls his blue gloves off, Deceit bows his head and clenches his jaw. 

    "L-Liar," he hisses. 

     "I thought that you would say that, which is why I brought proof." Apathy replies as he holds up a small voice recorder, he presses play. He smirks when he watches Deceit's eyes widen when the light sides voices play through the recorder's speaker. 

     ' _I mean... With him not coming around is a good thing. We won't have to keep watching him from the corner of our eyes, making sure he doesn't do anything.' Patton says his voice taking a sad tone._

_'Well, I for one am glad that he isn't showing his snake-face around anymore! It was becoming too stressful trying to make sure he didn't do anything wrong.' Roman chimes in disgust laced in his voice._

_'His way of thinking was too illogical... Not to mention the lying was bringing Thomas down, making him a less honest person.' Logan mumbles, the sound of Virgil snorting interrupted Logan._

_'The fact that he actually believed us when we said we loved him was the best part really, who could love someone with such an ugly face?'_

    Deceit stares at the tape recorder, Virgil's words hitting him like a sack of bricks. ' _Who could love someone with such an ugly face?'_ His brother's voice repeated over and over in his head. Deceit bites his lip hard enough to cause blood to fill his mouth, at the moment he didn't care. ' _T-They lied to me...'_ Deceit felt tears stream down his cheeks as a sniffle leaves him. He bows his head and clenches his fists tight, ' _Pathetic! You're supposed to be Deceit and yet you let those pathetic light sides fool you! You're not self-preservation and you're not even deception, you're FAILURE!'_ The voice in his head yells causing the smaller side to flinch, Deceit whimpers and holds his head in his hands. Apathy stops the tape recorder and gently places his gloveless hands-on Deceit's shoulders, his hands and eyes glow a faint blue. He smiles wide when he only feels on thing coming from Deceit and that was brokenness. " _T-They hate me..."_ Deceit's voice came out distorted, Apathy was shocked when it did, he didn't expect the smaller side to be affected so greatly by his decoy tape recorder. 

   "I told you, Draven, they don't accept anyone. They only brought in Virgil because he was a scared puppy whom they felt bad for because he was on the big bad dark side, but you. You were seen as the freak who they had to take pity on because they were the 'good' guys, but I wouldn't do that to you Draven, I can give you the family you want, the family you  _need."_ Apathy whispers Deceit sniffles and looks up. The older side inhales when he sees the broken look in Deceit's bi-colored eyes, his left eye glowing bright with untapped power. 

    "H-How d-do I know that y-you're not lying?" Deceit stammers. Apathy smiles and cups Deceit's chin with a glowing hand causing the smaller side to shudder at how cold the older side was. 

    " _Let me in."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You destroy their heart.


	10. Welcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :D :D :D

   " _Let me in,"_ Apathy whispers as he cups Deceit's cheek in his hand. Deceit inhales sharply at the chilling touch of Apathy, the smaller side bites his lip and looks down clenching his fists tight. Deceit shakes his head and refuses to look up at Apathy, he knew that if he did that he would easily give in to the older side. ' _I can't let him win, the others may not care about me, but Thomas does.'_ Deceit told himself as he closes his eyes tight. 

  "Look at me, Draven." Apathy demands, Deceit shakes his head and hunches his shoulders up. Apathy growls and grabs a fistful of the smaller sides hair jerking his head back. Deceit yelps and stares at the older side in fear, he struggles and tries to make Apathy let go of him. 

  "You don't have a choice in this matter, Draven." Apathy hisses as he snaps his fingers, Deceit gasps when his body appears behind him on the bed. He stares up at Apathy and tries to shake his head causing the older side to tighten his grip. 

   "P-Please... J-Just let me g-go, please!" Deceit begs as tears stream down his cheeks. He didn't care that the others didn't want him, he rather be with them than be stuck with this psychopath. Apathy smirks and snaps his fingers, he watches as the smaller Deceit fades away. Deceit gasps and sits up, the lying side shakily pats himself down as he looks down at his gloved hands in shock. He looks over to Apathy and backs away when he notices just how close the older side had gotten. Apathy clicks his tongue and grabs Deceit by the chain of his cape pulling him forward. Apathy brings his face close to Deceit's, the smaller side shudders when he feels Apathy's cold breath ghost over his lips. 

   "I told you, there is no choice in this matter for you, Draven." Apathy whispers as he surges forward pressing his lips against Deceit's, the lying sides eyes widen as he tries to push Apathy away, but the older side kept his grip tight on Deceit's cape. The fight slowly faded from Deceit, the smaller side relaxing against his will. The fear that he felt was replaced by an unbearable emptiness. Deceit's eyes droop slightly, Apathy pulls away and licks his lips smirking. 

  "Funny, I thought you would taste like mice or something, but yet you taste like blackberries." Apathy purrs as he runs his thumb across Deceit's bottom lip, his smirk widens when the smaller side leans into the touch. 

  "What is your name?" Apathy asks Deceit looks up at him with blank bi-colored eyes, his left eye shining with his power. 

   "Draven..." he breathes, Apathy grins and cups Draven's face with both hands. Draven copies his grin and leans into the touch, acting as if he craved the cold touch that the older side always seemed to carry. 

   "Do the other's accept you?" Apathy asks. 

   "No, only you do... They hate me but you love me." Draven replies, Apathy grins and releases Deceit he watches as the smaller side tries to stop him from leaving. Apathy smirks and pulls Draven's gloves off, he grabs both of Draven's hands and locks their fingers together. 

   "Look at you, so perfect... Such a pretty little puppet," Apathy breathes as he leans his forehead against Draven's. Something in Deceit wanted to snap at the older side, but he pushed it away, why would he go against his master? The only one who ever cared about him? 

    "Only for you... Apathy," Draven replies his voice lacking any kind of emotions. 

\--------------

   "So, are we still on for tonight?" Joan asks Thomas as they went over the new script for the next video. Thomas looks up at Joan and gives them a small smile, ' _Of course we are!'_ Is what he wanted to say, but that's not what came out of his mouth. 

    "No, I have something better to do tonight, maybe some other time." Thomas blinks and stares at Joan with wide eyes, Joan looks hurt as they stand from Thomas's couch.

   "What the fuck was that, Thomas! If you had something better to do then why did you agree to go to the movies with me?" Joan asks, hurt clear in their voice. ' _I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to say that!'_

    "I didn't want to hurt your feelings, so I agreed to go and planned to cancel last minute." Thomas covers his mouth and stares at Joan with wide eyes, he could see the tears forming Joan's eyes. Without another word Joan leaves, slamming the door behind them. 

    ' _W-What just happened?'_


	11. Imbalance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You've always wanted him to be an honest person, well, I'm making him honest."

   Patton stumbles as he makes his way to Deceit's room, the fatherly side catches himself by placing his hand against the wall. Patton swallows and looks up at the ceiling, ' _Something's wrong.'_ "Patton! Get down here!" Virgil calls from downstairs, Patton shakes his head and turns away taking the steps two at a time. He stops at the bottom in time before he trips over a huddled over Virgil, Patton watches as his dark strange son gasps for hair. Patton drops down to his knees and asks Virgil if it was okay for him to touch the anxious side, he smiles when the former dark side nods. Patton gently takes Virgil's hands helps him calm his breathing, once the anxious sides breathing becomes even and calm, Patton pulls Virgil into a gentle hug. 

  "What happened, kiddo?" Patton asks, Virgil takes a shuddering breath and clings tight to Patton's shirt. 

   "T-Thomas, h-he hurt Joan. I-I was trying to get him to agree to see Joan as we had promised, but it was like my influence hadn't even touched him. H-He told Joan that we had something better than to hang out with them. Thomas even said that he had planned on canceling last minute, too!" Virgil explains, Patton gasps and holds onto the anxious side tighter. 

    "J-Joan was so angry and hurt... T-They left and won't answer any of Thomas's texts." Virgil whispers, Patton swallows and glances up at the stairs. 

     "Virgil, we need to go check on Deceit, I know he's been avoiding us for the past few days, but it's time we made sure he was okay," Patton says, Virgil looks up at the fatherly side and shakes his head. 

     "W-We can't, Pat. He'll get angry, I don't want him to h-hate me again." Virgil replies, Patton sighs and runs his fingers through Virgil's hair helping the anxious side to calm down once more.

      "He won't be angry, kiddo. If Thomas told him that then there is a possibility the Deceit has ducked out, quack." Patton explains, earning a quiet snort from Virgil when he said quack. 

      "But... Why would he duck out?" Virgil whispers. 

       "Because of Apathy, kiddo... If he's come to his sense while he's been hiding away then there is a possibility that he decided to duck out to get away from that creep." Patton says as he stands up pulling Virgil with him. The anxious side tightens his hold on Patton's shirt, Virgil looks up at the fatherly side through his bangs. 

        "We're doing a shitty job at protecting him..." Virgil mumbles. 

         "I... I know," Patton whispers as he looks up at the stairs one more time. 

    Deceit sets on his bed, staring blankly at the wall in front of him. He did what Apathy told him, he took away his influence forcing Thomas to not lie to Joan. Part of him ached with the loss of Joan, he wasn't sure if it was because he was self-preservation or not. When he had asked Apathy why the older side simply told him that friends were a waste of time, that Thomas didn't need his friends. Something in Deceit wanted to argue with his master, but the deceitful side just pushed it away. Apathy knew what was best for them. Deceit blinks slowly when his door opens, he looks over and smirks. Patton and Virgil walk in, the fatherly side looking concerned, whilst Virgil was trying his hardest to not panic and run. "Well isn't this a pleasant surprise," Deceit purrs. Patton furrows his brows, ' _Something is off about him.'_

    "Hey, kiddo. Are... Are you alright?" Patton asks as he unconsciously tightens his hold on Virgil's sleeve. The anxious side didn't take his eyes off of his little brother, Virgil could tell that there was something wrong with Deceit, but he wasn't sure what. 

    "I'm fine, why do you ask?" Deceit asks, Patton furrows his brows. Deceit's responses were almost robotic as if he wasn't the one saying them. Patton holds onto Virgil's sleeve tighter gently pulling the anxious side behind him.

    "Well, we've noticed that Thomas was rude to Joan. We were wondering if that was you or if you're planning on ducking out on us," Patton replies. Deceit smiles and tilts his head, Patton inhales when he sees the spark of blue flash in the deceitful sides eyes, ' _No...'_

     "You've always wanted him to be an honest person, well, I'm making him honest. Besides, he didn't really want to hang out with Joan. Thomas doesn't  _need_ friends, they're a waste of time. Without friends then he'll be able to be himself," Deceit explains, it was as if he was reading this from a script. Patton clenches his jaw and holds onto Virgil's hoodie tight, his knuckles turning white. 

      "Are those your words or Apathy's, Deceit?" Patton asks. The fatherly side felt Virgil tense up, the anxious side looks over Patton's shoulder in order to get a better glimpse at the smaller side in front of them. He chokes back a gasp when he sees the spark of blue in his brother's bi-colored eyes. 

       Deceit stares at them, his smile drops as he stares at the two light sides with a blank expression. "Oh, dear... You weren't supposed to learn about the secret yet, Morality." Deceit replies as he stands from his bed, Patton swallows thickly and backs away pushing Virgil towards the door. The smaller side smirks and waves his hand forcing his bedroom door to slam shut. The two light sides jump and stare at the door with wide eyes, Virgil looks back at Deceit and tenses when he notices his brother's left eye glowing a menacing yellow. 

      "D-Dee Dee?" Virgil stammers. 

       "Now, now Anxiety, that isn't my dear little puppets name." Deceit spins around and squeals as he runs over to wrap Apathy into a tight hug, the two light sides stare at them with wide eyes. Apathy smirks at them and runs his hand through Deceit's fluffy hair, Virgil's jaw drops when he sees Deceit lean into the touch like a needy puppy. 

       "W-What... W-What's going on? Patton what's going on!?" Virgil screams, Patton clenches his jaw and jerk Virgil behind him more standing protectively in front of the anxious side. 

        "Let him go, Apathy. Deceit isn't a toy that you can just play with!" Patton growls. The fatherly side gasps when his hand flies over his mouth, Deceit glares hatefully at him as he pulls himself away from Apathy. 

         "That isn't my name, my name is Draven, and I will not let you stand here and disrespect my master!" Draven hisses as he tightens his hold, forcing Patton to squeeze his own face painfully. Virgil rushes forward only to be stopped by Apathy, the white-haired side wraps his arm tightly around the anxious sides waist. 

        "Wait your turn, Anxiety." Apathy purrs his face close to Virgil's ear, the anxious shudders and watches with wide eyes. Draven smirks and raises his hand high, Virgil shakes and chews on his bottom lip. 

        " _D-Dee Dee, don't!"_ Virgil screams his voice becoming distorted, Draven ignores him and jerks his hand down sending Patton away to the subconscious. ' _NO!'_ Draven flinches the loud voice in his head, he feels himself shake something within him forcing him to not finish the job and make Patton fade. Draven swallows thickly, he flicks his wrist slightly, he knew that doing that would send Patton to the dark side's home instead of over the edge of the subconscious. Draven shakes his head and turns to face Virgil, Apathy releases him pushing the anxious side towards Deceit. Draven makes a grabbing motion forcing Virgil to slap his hand over his mouth. 

       Virgil blinks when he notices the blue in his brother's eyes flick away for a moment, he could see the fear dancing around in Deceit's bi-colored eyes. Virgil gives his brother a gentle nod, Draven bares his fangs and pulls his hand down flicking his wrist forcing his brother to return to the dark sides. Draven uncurls his fist, any emotion that he felt before sending Virgil away vanished. Apathy smirks and walks over tilting the smaller sides head up. 

       "Well, done, Draven. Now, we've only got two more to go."  

        Deceit wanted to scream, he wanted to push Apathy away, but he pushed those thoughts away. He refused to give in to those heinous thoughts, Apathy saved him, took him in when they wouldn't even give him a chance, but yet... Yet he couldn't force them to fade, what his master didn't know wouldn't hurt him. 

        "Yes... Only two more to go." 

\------------

    Logan had felt the mind palace shake, he ignored it at first, but once it shook again that told the logical side that something wasn't right. Logan steps out of his room and rushes down the hall, only to bump into Roman. "Please tell me you felt that horrible shaking as well, pocket protector." Says Roman as he prays silently that the shaking was only in his head. 

   "I did, where are Patton and Virgil?" Logan asks Roman opens his mouth to reply only to have someone interrupt him. 

   "Oh, you won't have to worry about those two anymore, Logic." Roman spins around and pulls his sword from its sheath, Apathy stood a few feet from them with Deceit by his side. The two light sides falter for a moment, this is the first time they have seen Deceit in days, and the smaller side looked as stoic as Logan was. 

   "You fiend! What have you done to Patton and Virgil!" Roman yells as he points his sword at Apathy, the white-haired side laughs, causing Roman to lose a bit of his confidence. 

   "It isn't what  _I_ did, it's what my lovely puppet did," Apathy purrs as he runs his fingers through Deceit's hair shocking the two light sides as they watch the smaller side lean into Apathy's cooling touch. 

   "That's... That's why Thomas acted the way he did towards, Joan. You've corrupted Deceit." Logan replies, Apathy smirks and grips Deceit's hair causing the smaller side to grimace slightly at the change of touch. 

    "I didn't corrupt him, I  _saved_ him. Isn't that right, little one?" Apathy asks as he tilts Deceit's head up, Roman's hands tighten on his sword as he watches Deceit nod along to what Apathy was saying. 

    "Don't listen to him, Deceit! He's a wolf in sheep's clothing, taking you to the slaughter!" Roman yells, Deceit narrows his eyes at the fanciful side. Logan clears his throat and steps forward. 

    "What Roman means, is that he is using you, Dee. He's using you to get what he wants, you need to fight against his hold." Logan explains, Deceit smirks and makes a grabbing motion forcing both Roman and Logan to slap their hands over their mouths. 

    "I'm tired of fighting, Apathy is my savior. Goodbye Logic, Creativity." Deceit purrs as he jerks his hand down, making sure to flick his wrist to send the last of the light sides to the dark sides home. The mind palace shakes once more, Apathy watches in awe as the colors fade from the walls leaving behind stark whiteness. Deceit looks up at Apathy, the taller side looks down at him and grins cupping the smaller sides face with both hands. 

     "Well done, little one." He breathes, Deceit feels sick. ' _How could you do this? They were your family!'_ Deceit closes his eyes and pushes the voice in his away, he swallows thickly. 

     "Anything for you... Apathy." 


	12. Fighter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :D

   Maddex yawns loudly as he walks downstairs, the envious stops at the bottom and stares blankly at the four sides lying unconscious on the living room floor. He sighs loudly and leans his head back. "It's too early for this, HEY!" He yells, the four sides jump awake and look around with wide eyes. Maddex huffs and walks towards the kitchen he recognized three of them right away, but the other side with glasses confused him. 

   "You guys need to leave before Zig and Remy wake up, all four of you guys are on their shit list because of what's going on with Dee Dee," Maddex says over his shoulder as he takes out the things needed for breakfast. The envious side groans when the light sides don't leave, he spins around and narrows his green eyes at them. 

    "I'm serious! Leave!" He yells. 

     "W-We can't, kiddo," Patton replies his voice coming out slightly hoarse, Maddex frowns and stalks forward forcing three of the light sides to back up instead of Virgil. The anxious side hops up and places his hand over his former friend's chest. 

      "Dex, I'll explain everything when Remy and Zig come down, I promise, but until they do can you please drop the shadows? After the whole Apathy thing, the others aren't too trusting of shadow sides." Virgil pleads, his voice sounding more tired than usual. Maddex glares at him and steps away with an annoyed huff. 

      "I will when Ziggy comes down, he'll be angry that I showed them without him. Now go fucking sit down or something I'll fix breakfast for everyone." Virgil nods and walks over to the other light sides helping them up. The anxious side hoards the others into the living room, Virgil couldn't help but shake his head at the claw marks the littered the couch. 

      "Do they have a dog or something, Virgil?" Roman asks his nose sneered up in disgust, Virgil sighs and runs his shaky hand through his hair. 

       "No, they have a Ziggy with extremely sharp claws and a horrible temper." At the mention of the red-eyed sides name, Roman couldn't help but grow tense considering that was the same side who cornered him for giving Deceit peanut butter. The light sides sit in silence for a bit, they watch as Maddex dashes up the stairs, they hear him pound loudly on two doors, earning himself a groan and an angry scream both in which made him laugh. Patton couldn't help but notice the smile that formed on Virgil's face, ' _This must be what they did every morning.'_ He thought the fatherly side's heart breaks when he sees Maddex stop at the top of the steps. He watches as the green-eyed side places his hand on the wall sighing sadly, ' _That must have been where Dee's room was... Just like how it is over on our side.'_ Maddex sighs again and rushes down the stairs when he hears one of the doors behind him slam open. 

      "WHAT THE HELL DID I TELL YOU ABOUT BEATING ON MY DOOR, DEX!?" An angry voice roared, it felt like it shook the whole house. The light sides stare at the staircase with wide eyes, Maddex laughs from the kitchen. Another unamused groan sounds along with a loud smack and another loud yell. 

      "REMY!" The angry voice yells with a slight whine in the undertone. 

       "Too early for this, babes..." They heard Remy mumble, Patton frowns. Remy's down sounded dead to the world, they watch as the function slowly ascends the stairs, not even bothering to glance at them as he makes a beeline for the kitchen. They silently hope that Ziggy would do the same, but they didn't get that solace. The red-eyed side thundered down the stairs and stops, his eyes locking onto the four sides he really didn't want to see. Ziggy growls and stalks towards them, holding his clawed hand out by his side. 

        " _What the hell are you four doing here,"_ Ziggy demands his voice slowly becoming distorted. Virgil gulps and stands from the couch, he holds his hands up showing his former friend that he had no intention of hurting him. 

         "Ziggy, i-its Dee Dee. He sent us here, Apathy got him, the shadow from when were kids have him, Zig." Virgil explains slowly, the anxious side jumps when he hears something break in the kitchen. Maddex and Remy rush in, the function seeming much more alert than he had been earlier. 

          " _What?"_

\-----------------

   Deceit hugs his knees tight and stares at the wall in front of him, he knew that what he did was wrong, he knew that... But he couldn't go against Apathy. If he did... Then the older side would hurt him again and take away what little feeling he had left over. The ever-growing numbness felt like hell to Deceit, his feelings were somewhat still there, but he couldn't reach them, or if he did they would only be there for a split second and then disappear leaving him as an unfeeling shell. Right now he was alone in the mind palace, Apathy said something about paying Thomas a visit and for him to stay in their room. Deceit hated that, he hated how that monster called his room,  _their_ room. 

  "I-It's my room," he whispers fighting against the numbness. The deceitful side gently touches his cheek when something wet slips down it, he pulls his gloved hand away and sees that his fingers are wet. ' _I didn't know that an unfeeling monster could cry...'_

  ' _LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR~!'_ Deceit flinches and looks around his room, he furrows his brows. "I-I'm not lying," he argues weakly, his room screams even louder forcing the smaller side to places his hands over his ears. ' _S-Stop it...'_ His room ignored his silent plea as it screams the word liar even louder. Deceit can feel himself shaking, he was beginning to hate being called a liar. 

   " _I-I SAID STOP IT!!"_ He screams letting his voice become distorted, the mind palace shakes violently. The things in his room toppling over to the floor, Deceit curls in on himself, he throws his hat and grips his hair. A strangled sob leaves his trembling lips when the cold emptiness slowly snakes its way through his body, leaving him numb once more. 

\-----------------

   Patton clings to the couch when everything begins to shake, he looks around at the others with wide eyes. Remy clenches his jaw, "Dee..." He whispers so lowly that everyone has to strain to hear him. Maddex surges forward once the shaking stops pulling Ziggy and Remy into tight hugs, the others could see that the envious side was whispering something to Ziggy. The red-eyed side sighs hard and mutters a reluctant fine, they watch as the dark traits break the hug. The shadows fade away from Ziggy and Maddex. Ziggy frowns and crosses his arms over his chest, his skin was pale like Virgil's, his wild hair sticking up everywhere. A single fang poking out from under his top lip, Patton noticed that the angry side was wearing a red sweater similar to the one Deceit owned with a pair of black sweat pants. 

   "Take a picture, it will last longer." Ziggy snaps showing off his other fangs, Maddex sighs and slaps his arm glaring. The envious side wore a yellow beanie over his head, he looked similar to them minus the overly pale skin and claws that were painted green, besides that Maddex dressed similar to Virgil dawning a green hoodie and ripped jeans. 

    "Be nice, Ziggy. Alright, we showed you guys our true selves now tell us what's going on with Dee Dee." Maddex demands while tapping his claws against his arm, Patton opens his mouth but stops when Virgil places his hand on the fatherly sides shoulder. 

     "Deceit... Deceit has been taken by Apathy or as you guys know... The shadow he mentioned when we were six. Apathy did something to him, we're not sure what he did, but we know that Dee isn't himself. He... He sent us here you guys. He kicked us out of the light side and is allowing Apathy to take control of Thomas." Virgil explains Remy was the first one to step up, his brown eyes holding so much anger in them.  

      "Y-You guys told me he was  _fine,_ you told me that he had come to his senses after he passed out!" Remy yells, Maddex gently grabs the functions elbow and pulls him back. 

      "Getting mad won't help him, Remy." Maddex whispers, the function clenches his jaw and crosses his arms over his chest. Ziggy stares at the four light sides across from him, he didn't see any indications of them lying to him or the others. 

        "If Dee is with Apathy, then why did he send you four here? We know that Deceit is powerful, being self-preservation and all. So we know that he could easily make any of us fade... So why did he keep you four alive?" Ziggy asks, shocking the light sides with how calm he sounds. 

         "He's fighting against it, Ziggy. I saw it with my own eyes, Dee Dee was fighting against that monster." Virgil replies, Maddex looks at him and gently pushes Remy towards the kitchen telling the function to get himself some coffee. 

      "Then let's help him fight, let's bring his small ass here and knock some sense into him," Maddex says as he crosses his arms, Virgil sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.

      "I'm not sure if that's a good idea, Apathy could be wi-."

      "THE SKY IS GREEN!" Ziggy interrupts him, Maddex smirks at his fellow dark side. 

      "WE'RE HAPPY THAT DECEIT IS GONE~!" Maddex sings, he flashes a grin at the light sides who were staring at them with wide eyes. 

       "DECEIT ISN'T MY BEST FRIEND!" Remy screams from the kitchen, Virgil sighs hard he knew there wouldn't be a point in arguing with the three of them. 

        "I HATE DECEIT!" Virgil screams. 

    "Y-You don't mean that..." Everyone jumps and looks towards the stairs, Deceit sat on the steps with his head bow low. Patton squeals and rushes over to the smaller side scooping him into a tight hug, ignoring how cold the smaller side felt. 

     "OH KIDDO YOU'RE ALRIGHT!" Patton cries, Deceit blinks a rush of emotions going through him all at once. It was too much, the smaller side screams and pushes Patton away. 

       " _DON'T TOUCH ME!"_ He yells causing the dark side house to shake violently, Deceit whimpers and backs away until his back lands on the wall. The smaller side buries his face into his knees, he could feel Apathy's influence kick out Patton's easily leaving the emptiness behind. Deceit inhales deeply and lets the breath out slowly through his nose, he looks up at the others with blank bi-colored eyes. 

        "What  _don't_ you want?"  


	13. Rage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :D :D :D 
> 
>  
> 
> Good job Ziggy~! ..Oof this is really bad-

   "What  _don't_ you want?" Deceit asks, his tone of voice blank. The others stare at him for a moment, first, he was screaming at them to get away, but now he was fine. It made no sense to them. Remy walks in from the kitchen, he's holding two mugs. The function moves over to Deceit and holds out a yellow mug with black snakes on it, the smaller side narrows his eyes at the cup and flicks his tongue out. Patton squeals when he sees Deceit bleping but is silenced when Logan smacks his arm. Deceit gently takes the cup and sips at the contents inside, it was tea. He couldn't remember the last time he had something to drink. 

    " _No_ thank you, Remy," he mutters as he takes another sip. Remy smiles and tries to ruffle Deceit's hair only to drop his hand when the smaller side flinches away from him, Remy sighs and sips his own drink. 

     "What happened after you fell, Dee?" Remy asks, he ignores the startled gasps that come from Ziggy and Maddex. Deceit looks away from the function, he trails a gloved finger across the edge of his mug. 

      "I  _know,_ I  _do_ want to talk about it." Deceit mumbles as he takes another sip from his tea, Ziggy narrows his eyes and steps forward crouching in front of Deceit. The smaller side avoids the older sides eyes. 

       "You're lying, Dee Dee. What happened? We can't help you if we don't know what he did," Ziggy whispers as he gently takes Deceit's hand. The smaller side tenses and shudders at the warmth that was coming from Ziggy. He wanted to pull away, but a part of him stopped him from doing so. Deceit clenches his jaw and bows his head so that his chin is resting on his chest. A burning ache went through him causing Deceit to gasp softly. 

      "H-He... H-He dropped me, w-when I came to I wasn't... Me, w-well I was but I was a toddler. That bastard hurt me AND YOU IDIOTS DIDN'T TRY TO HELP!" Deceit screams as he throws his mug forcing the others to duck. Ziggy let's go of Deceit's hand, the smaller side pants as he narrows his bi-colored eyes at the sides in front of him. This time it took the cold emptiness a few minutes to return, Deceit closes his eyes tight and grips his hair. 

       "Dee... We didn't know, if we had known then we would have been there to help you." Maddex assures as he moves to be next to Ziggy, the numbness returns as Deceit lets his hands fall. He looks up at the two dark sides and smiles. 

       " _Yes,_ you  _would_ have. I  _don't_ know that you all hate me, after all... who could love someone with such an ugly face..." Deceit whispers the last part, his own feelings of pain fighting off the numbness for a bit. Ziggy growls and grabs Deceit's biceps and holds onto the smaller side tight, Deceit gasps and looks up at the angry side with wide eyes, everything in him was  _burning._

        "FUCKING TAKE IT BACK!" Ziggy snaps, his hands and eyes glowing a bright red. Deceit inhales sharply at the rush of anger that he felt, the emotion set his body on fire, it was beginning to be too much. 

         " _L-LET GO!"_ Deceit screams, causing the dark side to shake again. Ziggy growls and slams the smaller side into the wall, Maddex and Remy try to pull the angry side away from Deceit, but it didn't work. 

          "Don't just stand there! HELP US!" Maddex barks at the light sides forcing them out of their stupors, the lights try to pull Ziggy away but even with their combined strength they couldn't get the red-eyed side to release Deceit. 

        " _FUCKING TAKE IT BACK! HOW COULD YOU SAY WE HATE YOU!?"_ Ziggy screams the angry side didn't see what he was doing, he didn't see that he was forcing all of his rage into Deceit. The smaller side hisses and narrows his eyes at the red-eyed side, his left eye glowing brightly. 

        " _I SAID LET GO OF ME!"_ Deceit screams forcing Ziggy away from him, the angry side crashes into the others causing them to fall into the floor. Deceit breathes hard and clenches his shaking hands into tight fists. The cold numbness that Apathy had forced upon him was now gone, all that was left behind in him was a pure unadulterated rage. Deceit closes his eyes tight, something didn't feel right. 

         "D-Dee?" Deceit looks at Remy and narrows his eyes, the smaller side takes a shaky step forward his fangs bared. 

          " _You didn't catch me, YOU AND PATTON LET ME FALL!"_ He screams causing the dark side to shake again, the other sides back away from him. Deceit hisses and takes a step forward, the smaller side freezes when he feels a tug. A smirk comes to life on his scaly face, ' _Now you've returned.'_ Deceit looks up at the other sides his smirk growing wider. The other's gasps when they see a flash of red in the smaller sides eyes, Deceit lets out a giddy laugh as he claps his hands. 

          "Apathy is back~!  _He's going to be in for a rude awakening,"_ Deceit's voice distorts as he disappears from the dark side. The light and dark sides sit in silence as they stare at the empty space that Deceit had stood in. 

           "W-What... W-What just happened?" Ziggy slurs, he shakes his head so he could clear his vision. 

           "You just gave someone who couldn't feel anything one feeling that no person should ever have alone," Logan replies his voice holding a grim tone. Maddex looks at the logical side. 

            "H-He didn't mean to! Ziggy just lost control!" Maddex argues, Logan narrows his eyes at the dark sides. 

             "Well, him losing control just corrupted Thomas's self-preservation! We need to get to Deceit before he does something reckless!" Logan snaps as he pulls himself up from the floor. Patton gulps and looks up at Logan from his place on the floor. 

        "L-Lo... You don't think he'll try to go against Apathy, do you?" Patton asks. 

       "That's exactly what he's going to do, but with pure rage coursing through him it's hard to tell what he'll do to Apathy." 

\------------- 

   Apathy narrows his eyes when Deceit appears in their room, "Where were you, Draven?" He asks. Deceit keeps his face neutral, as he steps towards the older side. Apathy narrows his eyes and grips Deceit's hair forcing the smaller sides head back. Deceit fights back his smirk. 

   "I asked you a question, puppet." Apathy snaps, Deceit smirks and narrows his eyes up at the older side. Deceit grabs Apathy by his white cape and pulls him close, his smirk growing wider. 

   " _Let's take a trip~."_ Deceit sings as he forces Apathy to sink out, the pair appear at the edge of the subconscious. Deceit holds Apathy over the edge, his smirk wide with giddiness. Apathy inhales sharply as he stares back at the smaller side. 

   "RELEASE ME!" Apathy yells, Deceit laughs and lets go of the older side watching as Apathy tumbles over the edge. 

    "If you say so,  _master~."_


	14. Intrusive Thoughts Are The Worst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE NEW VIDEO PLEASE DON'T READ!

   Deceit stares over the edge of the subconscious, the smile on his face never left. Apathy was gone, he could tell because the older sides smothering presence was no longer present. For the first time in months Deceit finally felt free, but something felt  _wrong._ It wasn't enough, throwing Apathy over the edge hadn't been enough to sate his rage, the fiery anger still roared within him. ' _Another, throw another one in,'_ a voice whispers to him. Deceit slowly turns around and hisses threateningly before he stalks away from the edge of the subconscious. "OH VIRGIL~! COME OUT AND PLAY BROTHER~!" Deceit calls, he knew that the others were close, he could feel them, and he couldn't wait until he found them because he wouldn't stop until every single one of them faded. 

   Virgil tenses when he hears his name being called, hearing Deceit call for him made Virgil want to rush forward without a single thought, but he knew that would be a bad idea. The anxious side relaxes a little when someone places their hand on his shoulder, Virgil looks over and sees Logan giving him a small reassuring smile. "I know you're worried about him, but it would be logical to ignore him just this once. Just until we can return him to his room and rebalance him." Virgil sighs and nods returning Logan's smile. 

   They hadn't notice Roman trailing behind the others, walking slower than he had before. ' _What if Deceit was right? What if the only way to stop Apathy is too make him fade for good?'_ Roman shakes his head and closes his eyes tight, ' _Stop it.'_ He thought bitterly, ' _What if we boiled him alive!? Wouldn't that be fantastic!? Or what if we were to feed him to the Dragon Witch, just so many wondrous possibilities!'_ Roman fights the grin on his face, the princely side growls softly. "Stop it, Remus," he whispers. 

   "Oh boo! You're such a bore, Roman!" Everyone freezes in their tracks when a new voice speaks from behind him, the light and dark sides turn around to see Roman's trashy brother standing beside him pouting. 

    "What are  _you_ doing here?" Maddex asks in disgust, it wasn't a secret that the other dark sides didn't like Remus, the only one who seemed to even tolerate the trashy duke was Deceit and they didn't see how he could. 

     "I am hurt, Maddex! All of these troublesome thoughts that are being spouted and you honestly thought I would pass up the opportunity of being apart of this!  _Please,_ you must mistake me as a coward!" Remus argues, his pout still presents on his face. The others look at each other in confusion, they had no idea what the trashy side was talking about. 

      "We're not having any troublesome thoughts, you moron! The only troublesome thing here is  _you,"_ Ziggy hissed his voice weakened by his lack of power. Remus's pout turns into a disgruntled frown. 

        "Then who is?... Wait, where is Deceit?" Remus asks the others look at the ground at the mention of the snake-like side, even Roman looked away from his brother at the mention of Deceit. Remus glares at them and clenches his jaw. 

          "Where is he!? I thought you guys were protecting him, so WHERE THE HELL IS HE?" Remus screams causing everyone around him to flinch, ' _They need to pay they all have to fade! Watching as the darkness takes hold of them, Thomas only needs me.'_ Remus tenses and looks ahead into the subconscious, ' _Draven...'_ Without another thought, the Duke rushes forward ignoring the others. 

            "Hey! Where the hell are you going, Remus!?" Virgil yells, the trashy duke looks at the anxious side over his shoulder. 

             "He's having intrusive thoughts! If you thought what Thomas was thinking that day was bad, then you'd hate to see what Dra-...Deceit is thinking you, idiots!" Remus yells as he runs further into the subconscious, Deceit had to be at the edge, he just had to be. 

    Deceit couldn't help but imagine the other's faces as he pushed them off, honestly, Virgil's face would be the best to see. The betrayal and hurt in those dark-ringed eyes, but the fear in them would be the best. Virgil would feel everything that Deceit had the day when he first toppled over the subconscious, " _It will be the best thing ever~."_ Deceit sings. 

     "No, it won't, Draven." Deceit spins around and glares, Remus stood behind him with his hands behind his back. Deceit smirks and takes a small step forward, Remus stayed where he was not giving Deceit the satisfaction of showing just how scared he was. 

      "Yes it will, what brings you here, Remus? Were my thoughts too disturbing for you?" Deceit asks. 

       "Not at all, I was just concerned for you. I can see Ziggy's influence in your eyes, you're dangerously imbalanced Draven, we need to fix it." Remus replies calmly, it felt odd for him to be this calm, but that's not the problem here right now. 

        "No need to fix something that isn't broken,  _Duke."_ Deceit hisses his left eye flashing in warning, Remus takes a deep breath and steps closer to his little brother. They've had their ups and downs, but he still cared about the little snake in front of him. 

         "You're not broken, Draven, just imbalanced. Now, come on let's get you back to the mind palace. We can talk about the differences between Jeffery Dahmer and Ted Bundy." Remus replies while holding his hand out, Deceit smirks and grabs the Duke's hand tightly. 

           "Oh, will discuss something alright, like how will Roman feel if his darker half were to fade. Do you think he would fade too without falling in or would it just be you? I mean you both  _are_ creativity." Remus tenses and stares at Deceit with wide eyes. 

           "Draven,  _please,_ don't make me do this." Remus pleads, Deceit smirks and tugs the Duke forward causing him to move closer to the edge of the subconscious. 

            "You're not the one in control here, I am." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a part two to this, I just thought you guys deserved a cliffhanger ;)


	15. RECORD SCRATCH

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "He didn't say anything about... About taking control, he just said he would help us get back to the mind palace, that we would all be a family again... I'm so sorry, Draven."

   Remus struggles to get out of his friend's tight grasps, he knew what he had to do, but he didn't want to do it, he promised he wouldn't ever make Deceit see his worst thoughts. "D-Deceit! Snap out of it, I really don't want to hurt you!" Remus exclaims, Deceit scoffs and looks over his shoulder at the trashy duke red flashing in his eyes. ' _He's too corrupted, this... This wasn't supposed to happen!'_ Remus thought. 

   "You, hurt  _me?_ Don't make me laugh, I'm the one in control here, I'm self-preservation. All you are is intrusive thoughts and creativity, what could you possibly do to me?" Deceit sneers as he tightens his hold on Remus's wrist, the trashy duke narrows his eyes at the smaller side. With a flick of his wrist, Remus forced all of the thoughts that Deceit had buried over the years to resurface. Deceit gasps and releases Remus, clutching his head in his hands, horrible images flashed through his head. Virgil fading, Maddex and Ziggy fading, all of the other's fading as he was forced to watch. ' _Look at what you did, they protected you AND LOOK WHAT YOU DID!'_ Deceit flinches when his conscience yells at him. Remus watches in concern, he should stop and help Deceit but he couldn't, he had to teach him a lesson. 

    " _S-Stop... V-Virgil... V-VIRGIL!!"_ Deceit screams as he curls in on himself, ' _Couldn't save him, failurefailurefailurefailure!'_ Deceit thought as he lets out a choked sob, Remus now knew that he had to stop, but why should he? The Duke crouches down and brushes his fingers across the snake-like side's forehead, a demented smile plastered onto his face. 

     "You seem to forget, little one, I control the very thing that frightens even the coldest of people into submission," Remus whispers as he induces more thoughts on Deceit. The smaller side inhales sharply and lets out an ear piercing scream, the thoughts going through his head wasn't even  _his_ anymore. Images of Patton hurting himself flashed through his head, Logan hurting them, Virgil fading of his own volition, and Roman becoming... becoming Pride. It was too much. 

       " _ANXIETY!!"_ Deceit screams for the one person he knew that could and would make it better, the one person who saved him the first time everything became too much. Remus chuckles softly at the smaller side and leans closer so that his lips were right beside Deceit's left ear. 

        "He's not going to save you this time~." 

\------------------

          _"ANXIETY!!"_ Virgil freezes when he hears Deceit's panicked voice in his head, the anxious side looks up. The light and dark sides look at him in concern. 

          "Virgil? You alright, kiddo?" Patton asks, Virgil shakes his head and pushes ahead of the others taking off into a sprint. His reflexes were kicking in he knew it, but right now he didn't care, his little brother needed him. The anxious side ignores the other's calls and their rushing footsteps, all he could focus on was how scared Deceit sounded. ' _I swear Apathy, if Patton and the other's don't make you pay then I sure as hell will,'_ he thought as he picks up the pace. Virgil's face sets into hard determination when two people come into his view, the anxious side slows down a bit when he sees who is standing over his brother who was curled into a fetal position. 

        " _GET AWAY FROM HIM!"_ Virgil yells, slipping into his tempest tongue. Remus jumps away from Deceit, Virgil noticed how the trashy duke flicked his hand slightly. The anxious side watches as Deceit's sobbing slowed, but he was left shaking and hiccuping. Virgil narrows his eyes at Remus and rushes over to Deceit scooping the smaller side into his arms. Deceit easily clings onto Virgil's hoodie holding onto him for dear life.  

          "D-Don't jump... Please please  _please_ don't jump... D-Don't let me f-fall... P-Pat... D-Don't... L-Lo... R-Ro-Ro..." Deceit mumbles as he slumps against Virgil's chest, exhaustion taking over knocking the smaller side out. Virgil tightens his hold around Deceit and looks up at Remus baring his teeth. 

           " _WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!?"_ Virgil screams, Remus jumps and shakes his head shaking away the remaining mess that was his function. 

             "I... H-He was going to throw me over the edge, I had to stop him, b-but I lost control. V-Virgil you gotta believe me when I say that I didn't mean for this to happen." Remus replies while holding his hands up, Virgil growls and stands up. The anxious side stops when a quiet whimper leaves Deceit's trembling mouth, Virgil glares hatefully at the Duke. 

           "Virgil! Don't run off like... That..." Patton trails off as he and the others reach the three dark sides, they all look at Virgil holding Deceit then over to Remus who still had his hands up. 

            "Remus... What did you do?" Roman asks. 

             " _He made Deceit see his intrusive thoughts, but that's not all is it, Duke?"_ Virgil asks his tempest tongue still in effect due to his overwhelming anger and anxiety. Remus gulps and looks solely at his brother. 

              "I... I lost control, h-he said something that made me so... So  _angry_ and I wanted to teach him a lesson. I-I showed him... Everyone's intrusive thoughts... From the light sides to the darks to... To even Thomas." Remus explains, now that he was calm he could now see that he had truly gone too far. He didn't want to hurt Deceit, no, he just wanted to scare the smaller side just so he could take control of the situation. 

               "You... You good  _for nothing pathetic PILE OF TRASH!"_ Maddex yells as he hands Ziggy over to Logan and Remy, the envious side stomps over with his fist raised only to be stopped by Roman. 

          "Maddex, I know you're angry, but now isn't the time to pick a fight. We need to focus on getting Dee back to his room, he needs to rebalance before the effects become permanent." Roman explains calmly, Maddex growls showing off his sharp teeth, the sound of his little brother whimpering brought him back into the now. Maddex looks over and feels his heartbreak at the sight of Deceit in Virgil's arms, it was like when they were six all over again. The envious side nods and walks over to Virgil gently pulling him towards the others as they all turn to make their way out of the subconscious. Roman trails behind in order to walk beside his brother. 

      "Where was that fiend, Apathy? Was he here when you arrived, Remus?" Roman asks softly, Remus shakes his head and looks over his shoulder at the edge of the subconscious. 

       "Deceit, took care of him." 

\------------------

    The other's were relieved when they saw the mind palace back to normal, no longer tainted with Apathy cold touch. Ziggy and Maddex wait in Virgil's room, it was too bright for them to be out with the others. The light sides along with Remy and Remus follow Virgil into Deceit's room, they watch as the anxious side gently lays Deceit on his bed. Patton's heart swelled when he saw just how small Deceit looked while lying in his bed, Virgil pulls the covers up to the snake-like sides chin and gently places Sir Slither's next to Deceit. Virgil closes the door behind him when he walks out, the others jump back when Virgil slams Remus against the wall. 

     "Why the hell did you do it? I would have understood just showing him  _his_ thoughts, but going as far as showing him  _ours?_ What were you trying to do, kill him!?" Virgil yells the others didn't even bother trying to pull the anxious side away. 

      "Of course not! I told you, I lost control because he said something that made me angry." Remus replies, his tone dripping with venom. 

       "Well, what did he say huh? Did he tell you that eating deodorant was stupid? Tell you that Roman was better?" Virgil asks slamming the Duke into the wall once more. Remus narrows his eyes at the anxious side. 

        "He tried to make me out to be weak, that I couldn't hurt him, so, I put him in his place. Just because he is self-preservation doesn't mean he's better than me." Remus growls, Virgil opens his mouth to argue but is cut off by Logan. 

         "Deceit wasn't trying to be 'better' than you, Remus. He was corrupted, not only once but  _twice._ He was imbalanced, which I'm sure you already knew that you didn't hurt him to prove a point or to teach him a lesson. No, you harmed him because of your horrible impulses and I suggest that until he wakes up that you should leave." Remus tenses and glares at the logical side. 

          "Remus... He's right, we can't risk you harming Deceit while he is recovering. When he wakes up, I'll come and retrieve you. I'm sure he'd want to see you and apologize for anything he said to you." Roman chimes in gently placing his hand on his brother's shoulder. Remus sighs and reluctantly nods, Virgil releases him and watches as the trashy Duke sinks out. 

           "Now what do we do, gurls?" Remy asks as he looks at all of the light sides with worry. 

            "We wait, kiddo." 

\---------------

    "They told me to stay away from you, but I couldn't... Not yet at least. They're all asleep right now, so this gives me the perfect chance to say this." Deceit twitches when he hears someone speaking to him, he could hear the rustling of clothes and feel the dip in his bed as someone sat down. 

      "He didn't say anything about... About taking control, he just said he would help us get back to the mind palace, that we would all be a family again... I-I didn't mean for any of this to happen... I just... M-Missed him so much, Draven." The person's voice cracked, Deceit tenses at the mention of his name. Who was this person who was talking to him? Deceit shudders when someone brushes a gentle kiss on his forehead. 

       "I'm... I'm so sorry, Draven." The person whispers, Deceit knew that they had sunk out once his mattress returned to its normal shape. The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't pinpoint who it belonged to. He was too tired to try, so very very tired... Darkness took over his conscience once more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DON'T KILL M E


	16. People Don't Like Me Much Thomas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But that's just because I'm honest~

   Remus sighs and leans his head back, another birthday gone by without him. He couldn't believe that his brother kept him locked up for over seventeen years, Remus wasn't mad at him though. Remus knew that he could be a bit too much sometimes, but it wasn't like he could help it. You would think that Remus would deject his brother for this, but he doesn't, in fact, he misses Roman. Sure, they barely got along when they first separated but it got easier as they grew up. He was sure that his brother would laugh when he sees his actual mustache, the fanciful side never believed that he would actually grow one. "Proved you wrong, didn't I?" Remus mutters as he chuckles to himself. Remus shudders when his room becomes unbearably cold, the Duke looks up and inhales sharply. A shadow stood by his lopsided door, with their head tilted. 

   "My, my this room terribly... Drab, don't you think?" The shadow asks Remus shakes his head and gasps in an offended way pressing his hand against his chest. 

   "How dare you! My sense of style is great, gothic chic! Also, who are  _you_ to insult my creativity!" Remus snaps, the shadow chuckles and allows the darkness to fade away from their body. A side with white hair and blue eyes stood in the place of the shadow, his clothes roughly matched Remus's only he looked more regal than the Duke ever did. Remus gasps and presses himself against the wall. ' _How is this possible?'_

    "N-No... W-We got rid of you! I-I remember because this was before Roman and I split! We watched you fade!" Remus exclaims the white-haired side tsks and moves until he is crouching down so that he and the Duke could be face to face. 

     "Now, Creativity, you know that I'm not that easy to get rid of. I thrived in the darkness, even before you... Disgusting lights got the upper hand I lived in the darkness. Thomas still needs his Apathy, unlike you. Because I mean really, who needs dark creativity and intrusive thoughts?" Apathy coos as he lightly pinches Remus's cheek, the Duke flinches from the sides cold touch. 

      "Why the hell are you here?" Remus snaps as he smacks Apathy's hand away, Apathy smirks and stands up straight placing his hands behind his back as he does. Remus stands from his floor and brushes his clothes off never taking his eyes off of the side in front of him. 

       "Why, I'm here for your help of course." Apathy replies, a smug grin plastered onto his face. Remus narrows his eyes and folds his arms over his chest, he supposed he could entertain this snake. 

      "Elaborate," Remus replies. 

       "I'm sure you've heard of Self-Preservation, or as he likes to call himself, Deceit." Apathy says Remus couldn't help but tense up at the mention of his friend, nay his adoptive brother as he always called him. 

        "What about him? How... How do you even know about him, Apathy? Dee's never been to the subconscious!" Remus snaps, Apathy chuckles and paces the room. 

         "That's where you're wrong, Creativity. You see, he came to me of his own free will, or well... He came under the pretense of playing a childish game of hide and seek. The poor thing was lost and I decided to... Give him a little nudge in the right direction." Apathy purrs, Remus clenches his jaw. 

          "I swear if you touch him, I'll make yo-!" Remus's words become locked in his throat when Apathy forcefully slams him into his rotting wall. Remus struggles to breathe as Apathy's chilling touch sucks out any warmth that he had felt. 

           "I don't believe you are in the position to be making threats, Creativity." Apathy whispers his cold lips right next to Remus's ear, the Duke couldn't help but shudder uncomfortably at how close the side was, imagine that him uncomfortable. 

         "Besides, your threat means nothing. I've already poisoned him with my touch, but it doesn't seem to be enough. Those light sides and even  _our_ brethren are fighting against me when all I'm trying to do is bring us all together again." Apathy sighs a slight pout on his face, Remus glares at the white-haired side. 

           "Bullshit, you're just doing this to gain control over Thomas!" Remus argues, Apathy gasps and places his hand over his cold heart. 

           "I can assure you I'm not! I only want the family to be put back together! Come now, Creativity before you and the Prince split we had good times together! Wouldn't it be marvelous if we could relive those times with the newer dark sides?" Apathy asks, Remus growls and pushes Apathy away. 

        "They're doing fine just the way they are now! I won't help you, now leave!" Remus yells. Apathy glares at the Duke and flicks his hand slightly, Remus gasps and clutches his head in his hand's horrible thoughts of Roman getting hurt went through his head like a movie. ' _W-What the hell?'_ Apathy smirks and flicks his hand again, Remus slumps against the wall and stares at the white-haired side with wide eyes. 

        "Neat trick right? Little ability I picked up in my time floating within the subconscious, tell me, how does it feel to be on the other end of intrusive thoughts, hmm?" Apathy whispers as he gives Remus a smirk, the Duke stays silent the screams of his brother still echoing in his head. Apathy chuckles and gently pats Remus's cheek, enjoying the sight of the big bad Duke flinching away. 

       "Now, here is what you're going to do. I'm going to break you out of this little drabby prison of yours and you're going to help me get Deceit. I need you to break his confidence or at least give me something to use against him if you do this Creativity, then I'll reunite you with your other half." Apathy explains, Remus swallows thickly and looks away. 

        "How do I know you're not lying?" Remus asks Apathy grins.  

         "I give you my word, Creativity. You bring me Deceit and I'll reunite you with your brother, everything will be as it was before. We'll all be one big happy family, I won't hurt the little snake. I wish for him to be happy too... After all, Anxiety  _did_ leave him." Apathy replies, Remus looks up at the white-haired side then. 

          "I... D-Deal but only to reunite Dee and V-... Anxiety, I hate the thought of those two being alone." Apathy grins and steps away from Remus, allowing the Duke to breathe. 

           "Perfect." 

\-------------

      Remus paces his room, running his hands through his hair. He didn't mean to hurt Deceit, no, he was just trying to help him, but he only made it worse. "So, tell me what you found out," Remus jumps and spins around seeing Apathy leaning against his lopsided door, the apathetic sides clothes once again matching his. Remus couldn't tell this monster Deceit's name, he just couldn't. 

      "Nothing, he went back on his deal. Said, that I went too far and didn't deserve to know anything about him or the others." Remus lies, it felt weird for him to lie but he wanted to protect Deceit, even if that meant he lost the chance to be reunited with his brother. Apathy narrows his eyes at the Duke and flashes him a dangerous smirk. 

      "We'll just have to see if he told you nothing, now won't we?" Apathy purrs as he disappears leaving Remus alone within his room, the Duke leans against his wall and closes his eyes tight, ' _I'm so sorry, Draven.'_

     Two hours pass before Apathy slams the door to Remus's room open, causing the Duke to jump. Remus hadn't missed the smudges of black eyeshadow under Apathy's glowing blue eyes. "You lied to me," the white-haired side hisses as he flicks his hand. Remus gasps and slumps down onto his knees, flashes of his kingdom falling apart flashed through his head. ' _D-Did he take Virgil's powers too!?'_

     "Tell me what his name is!" Apathy screams, Remus shakes his head and yelps when the images turn into his kingdom burning down. Apathy growls and grabs the Duke slamming him against the wall knocking the air out of his lungs. 

      " _TELL ME,"_ Apathy yells as he slams the Duke into the wall once more. Remus shakes and gasps when the image turns into Roman lying lifeless in his palaces throne room. 

       "I-ITS DRAVEN! I-ITS D-DRAVEN, JUST STOP!" Remus cries, the image of his brother being dead was his worst fear, because what was he if Roman were to ever... Ever fade away. Apathy grins and releases Remus, watching as the trashy Duke slides down into the floor. 

        "Draven huh? It suits him, a pretty name for a pretty snake, don't you think Creativity?" Apathy asks, all of his previous anger washing away as if it was never there. Remus pants and looks up at the apathetic side. 

        "Y-You're... Y-You're insane," Remus breathes as he glares at Apathy. The white-haired side grins happily and bends down so that he and Remus were face to face. 

         "I prefer  _demented."_

\-----------

    Remus sits silently, watching as Deceit sleeps. It was finally over, Apathy was gone and balance was somewhat restored, but Remus couldn't get the nagging feeling away that this wasn't completely over. "They told me to stay away from you, but I couldn't... Not yet at least. They're all asleep right now, so this gives me the perfect chance to say this." Remus mumbles as he moves away from Deceit's desk, sitting down next to the slumbering snake on his bed. 

    "He didn't say anything about... About taking control, he just said he would help us get back to the mind palace, that we would all be a family again... I-I didn't mean for any of this to happen... I just... M-Missed him so much, Draven." Remus stammers as he tries to stop himself from crying, he allowed himself to be played by Apathy, letting him use his brother against him. 

    Remus takes a shuddering breath and places a gentle kiss on Deceit's forehead, glad that no one else was around to see him being gentle. "I'm... I'm so sorry Draven," Remus whispers as he sinks out leaving the snake-like side alone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Or is he?


End file.
